


Well, we're all works in progress

by lotticorn



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 4x02, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angsty Derek, Angsty Stiles, Annoyed Stiles, Betrayal, Derek Feels, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Jeep Sex, Lonely Stiles, M/M, Miguel - Freeform, Season 4 AU, Sexual Tension, Slash, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Spoilers, Stalia, Stilinski Family Feels, Teen!Derek, anchor!Stiles, sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-07 10:42:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 38,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1896060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lotticorn/pseuds/lotticorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My take on season 4. I was pretty disappointed by episode 2, teen!Derek had so much potential! So I decided (with the help of a friend) to continue the story the way I would have liked it. </p><p>Derek stays a teen, the memories of the last nine years missing. Stiles has to babysit him, because he's staying in the Stilinksi guestroom because...just because. Probably because Stiles is the most unlucky bastard on the planet or at least in Beacon Hills and they need to find a cure, fast, because Stiles doesn't wanna babysit Derek and he certainly doesn't wanna babysit Derek and Malia and if he's really honest he doesn't want any more supernatural shit and werewolf troubles anytime soon. But it's not like his opinion matters, ever, at all, so all he can do is endure. So much fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chaos has come again

Stiles entered his dad’s office, feeling a sense of foreboding. His dad didn’t look amused at all and a still de-aged Derek Hale was sitting in front of the door, frantic, his eyes all over the place. Poor kid. Guy, whatever. Werewolf, poor werewolf.  
Stiles snapped out of his inner ramblings when his dad addressed him, a frown on his face.

“I want you to be honest with me. Totally and completely honest. Have you been time traveling?“ The Sheriff asked seriously.  
There was a number of questions Stiles had anticipated. This was not one of them. “Hang on, what?” That was ludicrous. Time travel, really?  
“Because if time traveling is real, I'm done, I'm out. You're going to be driving me to Eichen House.” Ouch. Stiles grimaced and was just about to fabricate a convincing lie when Scott cut in, all puppy-dog eyes.

“We found him like that.”

Stiles’ dad just gave both of them an exasperated look that told Stiles that his dad was done with the supernatural. He couldn’t really blame him.  
“Where? Swimming in the fountain of youth?!” The Sheriff exclaimed. He was apparently feeling ridiculed and Stiles got it. It was his fault. Their relationship was strained from all the lies and the danger Stiles got his dad in. The supernatural situation in Beacon Hills still seemed like a bad joke to the Sheriff and now his son who had kept the last three years lying to him brought a 16-year-old Derek Hale back to the city after leaving on a camping trip for two days. Yeah, he’d probably also be angry if he were his father.  
So he opened his mouth and explained, the words rushing out.  
“No. We found him buried in a tomb of wolfs bane in an Aztec temple in Mexico underneath a church in the middle of a town that was destroyed by an earthquake.”  
Judging by the look Scott gave him that had maybe been too much honesty. 

“Stiles.” Ah, yes, seemed as if his dad agreed on the honesty part. “Didn’t you say you were going camping?”  
“Yeah, well, we did. We went camping in Mexico!” Stiles tried, adding enough fake cheerfulness to his voice to sound convincing. His dad just sighed and rubbed his temples and gestured to Derek who had started chatting with the young deputy, Parish. 

“Well, what about him? He doesn’t remember a thing?”  
Stiles looked at Scott, eyebrows raised quizzically. Scott shrugged helplessly and Stiles let out a short laugh. “No, no, it’s not like he’s forgotten everything. Just the last nine years. We think.”  
“You think?”  
“Yeah, well, we’re working on it, okay? Look, Dad, don’t worry, I’ll figure it out, there won’t be another supernatural crisis in Beacon Hills anytime soon, okay? Scotty here’s gonna go out there and pull some alpha-mojo shit and Derek will just, I dunno, follow him like the cute little puppy he is. Not saying the guy’s cute or anything, ugh, he’s Derek Hale, but you get the picture, right? Okay!” 

Scott stared at Stiles, mouth hanging slightly open. Then he slowly shook his head. “No, um, sorry, he can’t stay with me. My dad’s staying with us, remember? He doesn’t know anything about all…this” 

“Oh, that’s just fucking brilliant, isn’t it?” Stiles muttered under his breath. He was growing so damn tired of all that supernatural shit, but luckily no one seemed to notice. Or if they did, they didn’t care much. 

“You’ve got it nearly figured out, Stiles? How to cure him? And no lies, please, just be honest for once. Because if it’s only for a few days, I guess he can stay with us. We’ve got an empty guestroom, after all, and the way I see it, he’s basically just a confused kid right now, correct?”

Stiles nodded, slowly, not liking this one bit. Now he was supposed to play babysitter for a teenage Derek Hale? That was so typical. And like, not creepy at all, because Derek wasn’t a 25-year-old grumpy, violent man slash werewolf in real life who didn’t have anything better to do with his time than stalking highschoolers and who very much hated Stiles’ guts. Except now he suddenly was 16 years old and confused and looking for his family who was dead and this wasn’t fair! It was really, really unfair and Stiles didn’t wanna do it. But of course he wasn’t asked for his opinion, because after all the shit they’d survived together he was still only Stiles, skinny, sarcastic Stiles who had saved the pack’s asses more times than they could count, but now apparently even his dad was against him, so what chance did he have?  
He could only hope that there was a cure and that they would find it. Fast. 

“You’d really do that, Sheriff? Thanks so much! That would really help us! You’re awesome, thanks!” Scott beamed and reached out to open the door. 

“Wait!” Stiles yelled and Scott froze, just in time. “Dude, we need a plan first. What are you gonna tell Derek? To make him come with me.”  
Sometimes Scott could be really dense. More often than not Stiles felt that he was the only one – with the exception of Lydia Martin, if she was in the mood – who had gotten any brains in their little group. It was tiring and exasperating to say the least. 

“Right, um. Any ideas?” 

Stiles groaned. Well, at least Scott didn’t try to make plans any more. This had to count as a win seeing as how badly his plans always backfired. “We can’t outright lie to him, he’ll know.” At the questioning look his dad gave him, Stiles added. “It’s a werewolf thing. Apparently a person’s heartbeat skips when they’re lying and werewolves can hear that. So. No lying. Meaning you’ve gotta tell him…a version of the truth. He’s been attacked by something supernatural, which caused hopefully only temporary amnesia. We’re looking for the supernatural thing, but we’re not sure what is it yet, we just know that Derek lost quite a few of his memories, but he’ll be fine. Just tell him to come with me, I’ll think of something more to tell him on the way home. Don’t judge me, Dad.” 

The Sheriff just shot him a look that had spelled ‘JUDGING’ all over it, in capitals, but didn’t comment. Stiles was thankful. 

He followed Scott out of the office and over to Derek, who seemed to have calmed down.  
“Who are you? What do you want?” he asked Scott in true sour wolf-style. Charming as ever. 

Stiles pretended not to feel anything when Scott’s eyes shifted to red and Derek’s whole posture shifted. It was rather…pathetic. Some eye-flashing and the guy trusted them, just like that? 

“…so you’re gonna stay with Stiles for now, okay? His dad’s the Sheriff and he knows, so no need to hide anything, you’re gonna be fine. And if anything comes up, just ask Stiles, he’s a great guy!” Scott finished his energetic, whispered speech by clasping Derek’s shoulder. Stiles should’ve probably paid attention. Whatever.  
He fiddled with his sleeve and tried his best, genuine looking smile. “Okay! Come on then, my car’s parked just outside.” Stiles also tried his hardest not to roll his eyes as Derek seriously double-checked with Scott and waited till Scott nodded enthusiastically to follow Stiles.  
“I don’t bite, I’m just a normal guy, 100% human. See ya later, Scott.”

Once he was sure Derek was following him, Stiles dropped the smile and quickened his pace until he reached his jeep. 

“That’s your car?” Derek asked, sounding less than impressed. Stiles got closer to snapping with every passing second. “Yes, that’s my jeep. We hauled your ass from Mexico in that car. Got a problem with it?” 

Derek just shook his head and slipped on the passenger seat. “What was I doing in Mexico? And who are you people? I mean, it’s nice that you rescued me, but I don’t even know you.”

“Yes, you do. Okay, listen here, sour wolf,” Derek’s face turned into a frown. “some evil supernatural bitch dragged your ass to Mexico, no one had any idea where you were, a family of Mexican hunters was looking for you and when we finally found you, which wasn’t too easy or pleasant, let me tell you, you had lost a chunk of your memories. We don’t know why, we don’t know how to fix it, we don’t know how much you’ve forgotten and we don’t know who did it.”

Derek looked a little lost before he asked. “So…is there anything you do know?” 

Stiles groaned and gripped the steering wheel tight. “I don’t see you offering any help”, he ground out through gritted teeth and turned into his driveway. 

The lights in the Stilinski home were turned off, so Stiles fumbled with his keys for a while before finally managing to open the door. The familiar smell of drying laundry and his dad’s aftershave greeted him and a wave of nostalgia hit Stiles. This was his home, the home his dad and his mom had lived in and the house he had grown up in, back then when they had still been a family. And now everything was broken and wrong and his mom was gone and his father didn’t trust him and they had bills waiting to be paid and it was all his fault and now he was about to drag his dad into yet another mess all because of Derek who wasn’t even the real Derek. 

Then the moment passed and Stiles turned on the lights. 

“Welcome, make yourself at home” he said drily. “I’m gonna give you the tour and show you where you sleep, okay?” He didn’t wait for Derek’s input. “Okay, great. This” he gestured around “is the kitchen. Food’s in the fridge, just take whatever you like if you’re hungry, just don’t put any greasy fast-food in there, my dad’s not supposed to eat that. Right, moving on…” He crossed the kitchen and went into the living room, not paying much attention to the way Derek craned his neck and looked around wide-eyed. “So. TV’s here, feel free to use it, the remote should be somewhere around here, too…” He stopped to briefly rub his eyes. Derek, Stiles noted, was still oddly quiet. Maybe he’d always been the brooding type, even at the tender age of 16. 

“Kay, bedroom’s are upstairs, bathroom, too. We only got one, we’re gonna have to take turns.” Stiles climbed up the creaking stairs and pointed at the room to his right. 

“Okay, but um, what am I gonna tell people? That I’ve just…lost my memories?” 

Stiles stopped dead in his tracks on the stairs. Shit. He ran a hand though his hair. How to come up with a convincing half-truth?  
“Well, uh, this whole supernatural magic shit seems to have, uh, messed with a few people’s heads around here. Um. You’ve probably noticed at the police station, right? People don’t really remember you, so you better just not tell them anything about yourself. Like, not at all. Just tell them you’re my cousin Miguel from Mexico. And that you’re staying here with Dad and me because you, um, had an accident and lost some memories. Okay? You’re Miguel, Stiles’ cousin, staying with the Stilinskis.” 

Derek shot him a very suspicious glance. “Miguel?” 

“Yeah, well, it’s a Spanish name, alright? Just trying to help here, dude!” Stiles finished walking up the stairs and pointed at the guest room. “That’s where you’re gonna sleep, my room’s just opposite it, if you’ve got any questions or whatever.” He then gave Derek a long look, taking in his disheveled hair and dusty clothes. “No offense, man, but you should probably take a shower before you go to sleep. You’re kinda dirty. I mean, I guess being buried in an Aztec temple under the ruins of a town will do that to you, but still.” 

Derek’s face turned into a grin, a honest-to-God grin and Stiles nearly had a heart attack. Derek Hale didn’t do smiles, much less grins. “You must be really good friends of mine if you came all the way to Mexico to help me. Sorry for losing all my memories about you guys. And thanks for letting me stay, I guess.” With that he went into the bathroom and left a befuddled Stiles standing in the hall. 

This Derek didn’t just smile; he also knew how to say thank you and sorry. The world had to be coming to an end. 

Stiles shook his head, entered his room and flopped down on his bed. What a day.  
His eyes drifted shut and his body was slowly beginning to relax, when his phone rang, shrill, loud, annoying. He snapped up again and reached for it. 

“Scott, yeah, what’s up?” 

“Stiles?” Scott asked on the other end. “Is everything alright with Derek?” 

Stiles groaned inwardly. “Yeah, baby Derek’s just fine. He’s taking a shower, so you can speak freely. But make it quick, I dunno how long Derek Hale showers take.” 

“Okay, so I talked to Peter, he’s gonna start investigating. Lydia wants to help him.”

“Peter, okay. Yeah…that….that’s good, and with Lydia, perfect, that’s not creepy at all.” 

“He just wants to help, Stiles, he’s Derek’s family. Maybe if they just met and Peter talked to Derek-“

“Waitwaitwait a second, Scott! That’s a horrible idea, a truly, truly horrible idea. He was asking questions just now and I had to tell him that no one remembers him because of some supernatural bullshit. He can’t meet a nine years older Peter. How are we supposed to explain that? Nope, keep Peter away from Derek as far as possible or the kid won’t believe a word we’re saying anymore! I’m already lying my ass off but there’s a line even I can’t cross. So, no, no Peter.” He huffed. 

The other line was silent for a moment, then Scott replied. “Alright, so no Peter. Chill, dude. We’ll figure something out, we always do.”

“You mean I always do…” Stiles grumbled. “Alright, see you tomorrow at school.”

“Good night, Stiles, don’t be grumpy.”

The call disconnected and Stiles rubbed his eyes again. Naturally Scott was worried about Derek of all people and told Stiles not to stress it. Easy to say when Derek was staying with him and not with Scott. Fucking hypocrite werewolf.

God, he was so tired. But sleeping was out of the question, it was time for research. It wasn’t that Stiles didn’t trust Lydia’s abilities - he didn’t trust Peter with anything, true – but when it came to researching, Stiles had always been the one to turn to. And he had always figured it out, so he wasn’t going to pass on that now. He just had to keep it quiet from Derek. But judging by the sound, the water wasn’t running anymore and Derek had apparently finished his shower and gone to bed. Good.  
It felt still weird to think of the teenager as Derek, though. He didn’t seem to share a single trait with the Derek the pack knew. 

Just as Stiles had tipped in his first search (Aztec wolf legends), his window opened and Malia jumped in, a smile on her face as always. Stiles felt like crying. Not her. There was only so much a Stiles could take per day. 

“Hey, Stiles” she practically purred and Stiles could feel goosebumps forming on his skin. She came up to him and hugged him from behind placing her head on his shoulder. “Why aren’t you in bed? It’s late, you should come to bed with me.” She smiled again and placed a kiss on his cheek. 

Resigned, Stiles closed his MacBook. The research would have to wait, because Malia didn’t like waiting. She was the most impatient person Stiles had ever met and he didn’t feel like putting up much resistance anymore. And she was right, it was late.  
So he pulled his shirt over his head, took off his pants and slipped into bed wearing his boxers.  
Malia let out an excited squeak and lay down behind him, promptly running her fingers along his back. 

Stiles suppressed a sigh and willed himself to sleep.


	2. Be a werewolf...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the positive reception! I've never had so many views and kudos so fast, wow! :) 
> 
> So here it is - the next chapter! Enjoy! :D  
> Feedback is always welcome!

Stiles awoke to a blissfully empty bed the next morning and took a moment to just enjoy the peace and quiet. 

The first sunrays were shining into his room revealing that it was in dire need of a good, long vacuuming. There was a thin layer of dust covering the furniture and papers, books and printouts were strewn all over the floor. He really had to clean, some of these looked important. 

But that would have to wait for later. Stiles pushed himself up and swung his legs out of the bed. For now it was off to school and figuring out how to return Derek to normal. 

Stiles had taken a quick shower and dressed and was just collecting his stuff for school when he heard a timid, hesitant knock on his door. Definitely not his dad, he had a firm knock. Not Scott, either, he never knocked. This left only…Derek, Stiles groaned. 

“Come in!” he called and turned towards the door. And blinked.   
In his doorframe stood Derek, alright, but he was wearing nothing but boxers that hung quite loosely on his hips. Probably because they belong to old Derek, Stiles’ brain supplied.   
“Derek, why are you half-naked in my bedroom?” Stiles asked without thinking. He then watched as a very nice blush formed on Derek’s face. Stiles raised an eyebrow and waited.   
“I don’t have any clothes, okay? The ones I wore yesterday were dirty and I got nothing here. But I can’t go to school like this, so-“

“Waaaaait a sec!” Stiles cut him off, gesturing wildly. “You wanna do what? Go where?”   
“School.” Derek answered, bemused. “It’s Monday, isn’t it?”   
“Dude, you are not…you…you! Wait here! I gotta talk to my dad about that! Don’t move! Don’t even think about moving!” With that Stiles bolted out of the room and rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen where his dad was already sipping his morning coffee. 

“Stiles, what’s with all the ruckus this early? Did something happen? Is Derek alright?”   
Why was everyone asking after Derek these days? Stiles pushed the thought to the back of his head. Now was not the time to be an ungrateful little shit.  
“Morning, Dad, yeah, something happened and yeah Derek’s alright but he wants to go to school! Can he do that? I mean, he’s not even enrolled and it’s the middle of the term, but we don’t have a convincing reason to tell him he can’t, do we?”

“Breathe, Stiles!” his dad chided before adding, “I’ll call the school, shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

Stiles took his dad’s advice and took a deep breath to calm himself. “Okay, good. I mean, not good, now I’ll also have to watch Derek at school, but that’s okay, or it will be, honestly, no need to worry. I’ve got no idea why he wants to go to school, but maybe Derek was just weird as a teenager, he certainly is now. Do you think some people are just born weird? Anyway, I told Derek to tell people that he’s Miguel, my cousin from Mexico and that he was in an accident and has lost some of his memories and because it was so much of a trauma he’s staying with us for now. Just in case you were looking for a story to tell the school. Miguel Sanchez, say his name’s Miguel Sanchez, that’s the most common-sounding Spanish name I can come up with and if it’s good enough for me, it should be good enough for anyone. Okay?” 

“You should really take your Adderall before you leave for school, kid. Your story sounds good enough, though, I’ll use my best Sheriff-voice to make sure the principal doesn’t ask any questions. Now you focus on getting yourself and Derek ready.” Stiles’ dad got up, put his coffee mug in the sink and starting searching for the phone. 

Stiles took that as his dismissal and bounced back upstairs to where Derek Hale was still standing in the middle of his room in ill-fitting underwear. True to his word, he hadn’t moved an inch. Stiles had to suppress a snicker. 

“Good news, my nudist friend! You can go to school with me, even though I’ve got no idea why you’d want to, you’ve got the perfect excuse to stay at home, but whatever man, it’s your life, I don’t judge.”

“That’s great, Stiles, but I’m still…” Derek gestured at his body, a pained expression on his face. 

“Ah, right. Wait just a sec…” Stiles walked over to the drawer where he kept his clothes and there it was. Orange and blue and striped and perfect – the ultimate shirt! He knew he was probably being mean, but with a grin on his face he pulled the shirt out of the drawer in one fluid motion and tossed it at Derek.

Who caught it, werewolf reflexes and all, and managed to look only mildly offended. Good. 

“What? You don’t like it? Those are totally your colors, dude! And here’s a pair of jeans, catch!” He had picked the smallest he had and hoped that they would fit Derek. The kid wasn’t exactly the tallest. “Don’t have any leather jacket though, sorry.”

If Derek thought that statement strange, he didn’t comment. Stiles shrugged mentally and started rummaging through his closet in search of an old backpack for Derek. When he had finally found one, Derek was fully dressed and gave Stiles a skeptical look. 

“You look just like the beautiful Disney princess you are, now come downstairs and have some breakfast!” Stiles grabbed his own backpack and made his way to the kitchen, confident that Derek would follow. After all, the kid wanted to go to school. 

His dad had already prepared two bowls of cereals and two glasses of orange juice. 

“I called the school, Miguel Sanchez is now enrolled until the end of the term. Should his trauma last longer, he’s supposed to schedule a session with the guidance counselor. But it won’t, right? My son wouldn’t lie to me about something that crucial after everything, correct?” 

Stiles felt as if someone – probably a werewolf – had knocked the air right out of him. For a second he couldn’t breathe and felt like he was on the brink of a panic attack, but instead he managed to give his dad what he hoped was a winning grin and not a grimace and nodded. “Of course not, dad, no more secrets, we promised.” Cross my heart and hope to die, right. 

Derek chose that moment to stroll into the kitchen and Stiles flinched visibly. “God, Derek, you scared me! Don’t use your sneaky werewolf powers to sneak up on Stiles, that’s not cool! Anyway, d’you want coffee? I dunno, do you even drink coffee? Are you even old enough to drink coffee? You’re 16, right?” Stiles knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t help himself. He was still the same Stiles who’s only defense was sarcasm and wit and right now his hands were shaking so badly that he doubted he could hold a spoon, but it would do no good for his dad to notice, because then he would worry about Stiles again and he had really spent enough time of his life worrying, so…where had Stiles been going with that thought? 

“Good morning, Sheriff. Yeah, I’ll take some coffee, thanks. What’s up with you, have you had like three pots of coffee already?” Derek asked Stiles, looking amused. Wow, amusement, that was a welcome change for once. The old Derek would have simply told Stiles to shut his mouth and stop being such a spaz. He would have probably pushed him into a wall for good measurement, too. 

“No, Stiles still hasn’t taken his Adderall.” The Sheriff explained, stern voice and stern face, before Stiles could offer an explanation. “Stiles doesn’t drink coffee, don’t ever give him coffee. This is the way Stiles normally is, it’s considered calm. You don’t want to see a Stiles on caffeine.” 

“He exaggerates, horribly.” Stiles countered as he placed a mug in front of Derek. 

Derek just laughed and started digging into his cereals. After making sure that his hands weren’t shaking anymore, Stiles did the same. 

“So Derek, repeat your story again. What are you gonna tell the folks at school? Who are you and why are you here?” 

Derek furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before reciting the fabricated story, “My name’s Miguel Sanchez, I’m your cousin, Stiles, and staying with you and the Sheriff for now, because I had an accident in Mexico, where I live and I lost some memories and um…”   
“…and this change of scenery is supposed to help you recover from your trauma, focus, dude!” Stiles sighed. “I won’t be there to help you out every single time, okay? So better memorize the story fast, Miguel!” He put an emphasis on the fake name and Derek nodded.  
This was going to be a disaster. 

Stiles parked his jeep at school and fumbled with Derek’s schedule. “Alright, you’ve got Honors Spanish now…Spanish? Dude, you really speak Spanish? I had no idea, that’s perfect!” He exclaimed and ignored the funny look Derek shot him. “Good, I’ll take you to your classroom and pick you up for lunch break, sound good? Scott and the rest of the pack will be there, too, maybe they’ve already figured something out.” 

“You don’t need to take me to the room, Stiles. This is Beacon Hills High, I’ve been going to this school for two years, I know my way around.” He looked a little lost and very, very young and a wave of pity hit Stiles. Derek hadn’t asked for this either, he reminded himself, and even if he played it down, it couldn’t be easy or pleasant for him.   
Stiles took a deep breath, placed both his hands on Derek’s shoulders – the kid was small! - and said, “Derek, we don’t know which memories of yours are real and which have been messed with. I know that sucks, I really do, but for now, we can’t trust anything you might think you remember. So I’m gonna take you to your room and pick you up from there because we don’t want you getting lost, okay?” 

Derek looked at the ground and nodded slowly. “Yeah, fine. Thanks, I guess.” 

Stiles fought the image of a hurt puppy that wanted to manifest in his head and dragged Derek to the Spanish classroom just as the bell rang. 

“Shit! Okay, Miguel, you’ll do great, see you at lunch!” he called and sprinted around the corner and up the stairs to get to his Economics room.   
Panting, he opened the door only to see that everyone was already seated and that Coach Finstock had started the lesson. 

“Mr. Stilinski! So nice of you to show up late – again!” the coach yelled at him. “Maybe I should add up all those minutes you’ve missed and have you make them up in detention, huh? Huh, Stilinski?”

Stiles hung his head. Another detention was really the last thing he needed right now. “Sorry, Coach, won’t happen again.” He murmured and shuffled over to his desk. 

“It better not, Stilinski, it better not!” 

Stiles flopped down on his chair and immediately started fiddling with his sleeve. This day was destined to be awful. 

“Dude, what’s up?” Scott whispered on his right and Stiles sighed, audibly. 

“Derek’s at school.”

A gasp. “He’s what? Why?” 

Stiles shrugged, helplessly. “He wouldn’t let it go and I really couldn’t think of a reason why he couldn’t go, so my dad had him enrolled. He goes by the name Miguel Sanchez and is a sophomore.”

“Dude, that sucks!” 

“Yeah, right, you tell me, Scotty. Now we can’t talk about a cure at school either.” 

Scott pulled out his phone. “I’ll text the others and tell them. Miguel?”

Stiles couldn’t suppress a grin. “Yeah, he’s my cousin from Mexico.”

“Stilinski, McCall! You really do want to end up in detention today, huh?” Coach Finstock’s voice cut through the classroom and Scott and Stiles winced. 

“Sorry, coach…” they murmured in unison and ended their conversation in favor of concentrating on the lesson. Needless to stay, Stiles didn’t have any luck with that.


	3. ...not a teen wolf!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos and comments, guys!!! :D   
> Because of all the positive feedback I've spent my weekend working and writing, only for you, my lovely readers! :3 
> 
> This chapter's rather short, but there'll be lots of action in the next one, I promise~

The rest of the lesson passed painfully slowly and Stiles could honestly say that he hadn’t heard a single word of what the coach had said. His mind had been swirling around Derek. Again. 

He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Stiles felt vaguely worried about the now younger Derek. Would he be all right by himself? What if the other students in his Spanish class picked on him? What if they thought he was strange? What if he blew his cover? Oh God, what if he wolfed out in front of them? And what if he didn’t really speak Spanish? What if someone remembered that Stiles did in fact not have any relatives and certainly none in Mexico? 

The second the bell rang, Stiles jumped up, grabbed his backpack and rushed out of the room shouting “Just gotta check on him real quick!” at Scott. 

‘Real quick’ turned out to be very much impossible. The halls were flooded with people and Stiles had to fight his way through the crowd. Had there always been that many students at Beacon Hills High?

When he finally reached the room – goddammit, he’d be late for his next class, too, at that rate! – Stiles blinked. And blinked again. Then he raised his eyebrows. The scene in front of him didn’t change. 

There he was, teenage Derek in his full teenager glory, surrounded by at least ten people, chatting excitedly. A girl got up on her toes to whisper something in his ear, and Derek erupted in laughter. 

Well. Stiles had expected a lot. Certainly nothing like this, though. 

“See? Dude, you were totally worrying for nothing, Derek’s fine!” Scott said quietly from behind him.

“Damn it, Scott! You werewolves need to stop that sneaking up on me from behind-thing! Not cool! You’ll bring me to an early grave like that! Show some consideration for your human!” 

Scott grinned sheepishly at Stiles and murmured, “Sorry, I always forget…” 

Stiles shot Derek another look, his eyebrows drawn together. 

“Yeah, my cousin Stiles, you know him? He’s a senior and, oh look, he’s over there!” Derek said just then, searching Stiles gaze. Stiles met his eyes and Derek raised his hand to wave at him, when Stiles felt a pressure from behind, pulling him backwards. He turned around, more annoyed than anything. At this rate, he’d most definitely have to stay behind for detention that day. 

“Good morning, Stiles”, Malia purred at him and kissed him square on the mouth. Stiles froze. Malia took that moment of defenselessness and grabbed Stiles hand, apparently intent on dragging him into the next available room to do unspeakable things to him. 

“Wait, wait, wait, Malia! We’re at school! We talked about this, remember?” 

She nodded, slowly, looking more than a bit disappointed, her big eyes staring at Stiles. He sighed and petted her head. 

“You were talking to that boy again, Derek Hale” she pointed out. 

“He goes by Miguel Sanchez now.”

Speaking of him, Stiles turned around to where Derek had been moments ago only to find the spot empty. Awesome, now he was gone, and Stiles hadn’t had any chance to talk to him and what if he had lost his schedule or what if the students surrounding him had only played on being nice and were really just waiting to lure him into a dark corridor because he was the new kid and a naïve puppy radiating beams of sunshine and…yeah, probably not. Still. Stiles wasn’t happy.

“What? Why?” Malia asked. Sometimes Stiles wasn’t sure if her naivety and lack of common sense was just an act, part of an elaborate scheme of sorts. But then he remembered that she had spent years as a coyote living by herself in the wilderness and he couldn’t stay angry at her. It wasn’t her fault, after all, that she seemed as if she had her head in the clouds. She just wasn’t accustomed to being human yet. 

“It’s a disguise, Malia. So that no one figures out what happened to him.”

“We don’t even know what happened to him, how could any of those kids figure it out?” Malia asked, scoffing. “And why are you spending so much time with him? I don’t like it. You’re supposed to spend time with me, Stiles!” 

Stiles felt bad for feeling annoyed. He looked at Malia and saw honest distress on her face, yet he couldn’t find it in himself to think fondly of her. Sure, she was pretty and had awesome supernatural powers, and her disorientation and confusion were comical and sometimes cute, but that was it. Stiles hadn’t asked for her to climb into his bed five days a week. He hadn’t asked for all the kisses and the physical contact. He was neither Malia’s babysitter not her boyfriend, but she had seemingly not realized that. And Stiles was too chicken to have a real talk with her. 

“Ah, oh god, there’s Lydia! Gotta run to Math, sorry Malia, catch you later. Be good!” With that he sprinted down the hall until he reached Lydia who had thankfully really been on her way to class. Not that Stiles was sure if Malia had figured out the lying-thing yet, she had only mastered tying her shoelaces a week ago. 

He skidded to a halt next to her, panting. “Morning Lydia”

Lydia raised an eyebrow and gave Stiles a quick once-over. “Rough morning, Stilinski?”

“You’ve got no idea!” he groaned and walked into the still empty classroom. Apparently he hadn’t really been running late. Oh well. At least he had escaped. 

Lydia and Stiles took seats in the back where they could hopefully talk in peace. Since no one else in their group took AP Math, Stiles at least didn’t have to fear any interruptions. If he was honest with himself it was also the only class in which he could relax and actually follow the lesson. It was a good thing Scott and Malia weren’t exactly the brightest, Stiles thought spitefully. 

“So Stiles, spill!” Lydia ordered courtly. 

Stiles complied and quickly filled her in about the whole Derek-turned-Miguel situation.   
Thankfully, Lydia didn’t have to ask why Derek had had to change his identity. 

By the time Stiles had finished his report, their teacher, thankfully not Lydia’s mom, they had gotten a sub at the start of the term, young guy, inexperienced, had almost finished comparing the homework.  
Stiles felt a stab when he realized he hadn’t done any of it. He had simply forgotten about it. Way to go, really, his dad would be proud.   
Stiles hurriedly copied the answers from the board, willing himself not to think on the consequences of not turning in his homework. His test were always perfect, after all, so his grade couldn’t be too bad, could it? And even if it was, this was only one class and an AP class on top of that, so surely it could be excused. His dad wouldn’t be mad, he didn’t get mad over grades, never had. Yeah, Stiles would just be fine. 

“Are you alright, Stiles?” Lydia suddenly whispered next to him. 

Stiles clicked his pencil five times in a row and started chewing on his bottom lip. “Yeah, yeah of course, I’m good, I’m just fuckin fantastic, why d’you ask?” He tried for a grin and hoped he’d succeed. 

Lydia started to absentmindedly twirl a strand of her perfectly curled hair around her finger and gave Stiles a thoughtful look. “You were running from Malia earlier, weren’t you?”

Stiles shrugged helplessly not wanting to outright deny it. 

“Admit it, Stiles, the girl is driving you crazy. It’s alright, she’s driving me crazy. I’d even go so far as to claim she’s driving all of us crazy!” 

But Stiles felt bad for her. She didn’t have any concept of human relationships and probably felt save around Stiles since they had spent time together at Eichen House – no no no, bad thought, unpaid bills in his dad’s office! – and because he had invested so much time into helping her. And it wasn’t as if he despised her, she was a nice enough girl. And anyway, telling her to back off now all of a sudden after they’d been physical for weeks would only hurt and confuse her. 

“Stiles! That relationship can never work out, there’s too much Malia and not enough Stiles and you know it!” 

Stiles made an unhappy sound, something between a whine and moan, and avoided meeting Lydia’s eyes. 

“As sad as I am to admit though, that’s really not our top priority right now. Derek’s at school, so that means we won’t be able to strategize during lunch since he’ll be there…” Lydia thought out loud and Stiles nodded miserably. 

“It’s fine, don’t worry. I had intended to meet Peter after school anyway to conduct some research, so I’ll do that and let him in on the situation. I’ll text you guys our results, you just make sure Derek doesn’t get hold of your phone and we’ll be fine.” 

Stiles very much disagreed, but he managed to keep his mouth shut for once. They were about as far from fine as they’d ever been, really, and Lydia knew it, so there was no point in him stating the obvious. 

He clicked his pen another three times and tried to focus on solving his calculus problems. These at least were problems Stiles could solve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: the moment we have all been waiting for! The most important part of the life of every teenager living in Beacon Hills! LACROSSE! *dramatic music*   
> Also, a tiny fluffy Sterek scene maybe? ;)
> 
> Have fun watching the new episode tonight! :)


	4. When I was in high school we played basketball. Now there's a real sport.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh God, you guys! I'm so sorry for the delay! Real life and friends and the World Cup got into the way! 
> 
> Butttt to make it up to you the chapter's extra long. Like, two chapters long :D 
> 
> Enjoy!

Stiles managed to find Derek before lunch and took him to the cafeteria. 

The day was not even halfway finished, but Stiles was already done. Having to worry about Malia and his dad and school had been enough, but now with the full-time job of babysitting Derek Stiles felt like he was slowly suffocating. 

“Dude, we got lacrosse practice today, right?” Scott interrupted his musing and Stiles sighed dramatically. 

Right. Lacrosse. How could he have forgotten about that? Stiles cringed. Now even his thoughts sounded sarcastic. 

“Yeah, right, I’d totally forgotten. I guess I’ve gotta go, though, otherwise Coach might just murder me…” 

“Come on, Stiles, you’re playing first line now, of course you gotta come!” Scott, ever the hardworking team captain, lectured him. 

Stiles just groaned again and ate another spoonful of greasy cafeteria food. “Right, because it’s so much fun with all the werewolves and not unfair at all!” He rolled his eyes. 

“What are you guys talking about? What is lacrosse?”

All conversations stopped immediately and the occupants of their table turned to look at whoever dared asking questions like that in Beacon Hills. 

Derek seemed to melt into his chair under the stares. “Is it something I’m supposed to know? I play basketball” He shrugged. 

“Dude! You don’t know lacrosse?” Scott practically shouted, apparently utterly bewildered judging by the way he gaped at Derek. 

Poor guy, Stiles thought. “It’s the sport that’s played here, Miguel” He said, just in case anyone was listening. “It’s played with two teams who wield sticks with nets and use them to shoot a ball to score goals.” 

“That was the single most horrifying explanation I’ve ever heard!” Lydia chimed in, looking faintly amused. “And I don’t even play lacrosse.” She then explained every rule and every exception thereof to Derek and finished her monologue with “See? It’s easy, really.”

Derek seemed to consider that for a moment. Then he raised his eyebrows. “I don’t get it. It sounds stupid.” 

Stiles laughed aloud while Scott actually looked hurt. “You should come to practice today, it’s fun, really.”

At that Derek’s eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly. “Yeah, sure Scott, I’ll be there!”

Stiles felt instantly nauseous. What the fuck? What had just happened? As soon as Scott told Derek lacrosse was fun, Derek suddenly wanted to play? Even though he had declared the sport as stupid just seconds before? Just because an alpha had said he should come? Scott wasn’t even Derek’s alpha, at least not this Derek’s, and Derek didn’t know him at all. He knew Stiles better than Scott, for crying out loud!   
Well, most likely it was a pack thing, another werewolf thing that Stiles simply couldn’t get since he was still miraculously human. 

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break and Stiles got up running a hand through his messy hair. A second later he felt another hand tugging playfully at his long strands and wasn’t surprised to find Malia standing behind him. 

“Your hair is so nice, Stiles, it’s all soft and fluffy” she whispered and looked up at him, smiling. And Stiles knew that it was childish and unnecessary and he would regret it later and it really wasn’t fair to Malia –though, to be honest, when had she ever been fair to him? – and what did he even hope to accomplish, but for a moment he leaned into her touch and smiled back at her.   
When he looked back up, Scott, Lydia and Kira had left and only Derek was still standing at the table, watching Stiles with an unreadable expression.   
The thought ‘Hah, serves you right!’ flashed through Stiles’ mind and he was about to mockingly raise his eyebrows when he realized what he was doing. He immediately jerked his head back and gave Malia’s hand a quick squeeze. Then he grabbed Derek’s sleeve and navigated him down the corridor, not meeting his eye.   
Had he really just tried to make teen Derek jealous? Why on earth would he do such a thing? Yes, it irritated Stiles to no end that Derek had gone all eager puppy over Scott, but that was no reason to nearly start a make-out session with Malia in the middle of the cafeteria! Was he really that hungry for attention? 

Stiles let out a low growl. 

“Dude, you can let go of me.” Derek suddenly said and Stiles realized that he had not only Derek’s sleeve but his whole arm in a tight grip.   
He dropped the arm like it was on fire and murmured, “Sorry, sorry, dude. Well, see you later at practice then, I guess.” before breaking into a sprint to his English class. 

Thankfully that lesson went by without any disturbances, although Stiles had to forcibly push away any thoughts related to Derek and Malia. 

After classes Scott accompanied Stiles to pick up Derek.   
Stiles’ thoughts had calmed down a bit. The ability to push certain things to the back of his mind in avoidance really was a gift sometimes. 

Together they then went to the locker room, Scott telling Derek the thrilling story of how he had come to be team captain. By the looks of it, Derek was sucking up Scott’s every word like a sponge.   
Stiles thought with a pang that no one ever looked at him like that. 

The Coach was late, so Scott addressed the team when they were on the field.   
Derek who was wearing a spare uniform looked up at him with obvious awe in his eyes. Stiles rolled his eyes and snorted. 

“Guys, this is Miguel, he’s Stiles’ cousin from Mexico and he’s gonna train with us today! They don’t have lacrosse there, so make sure you show him the game! Okay, that’s it, get in line!” 

Derek hurried to take the first place in the line, but Stiles wasn’t in any particular hurry so he ended up at the end with only Danny behind him. Danny, who promptly nudged him in the side with his elbow.   
“Your ‘cousin Miguel’, huh Stilinski?” he asked giving him a knowing grin. “I remember him a couple years older and also much hotter, what happened to poor Miguel?”

Stiles bit his lip and looked around, frantically searching for a fast and save explanation.   
“Um, well, uh, you know how it is with these Mexicans, hehe, right, Danny?” he tried lamely, but Danny just laughed.   
“Save it, Stiles. I guess one more werewolf in Beacon Hills doesn’t matter anyway.”   
By now, nothing seemed capable to shock Stiles anymore. Not even the fact that Danny was apparently in the know about the supernatural situation.   
He kicked at the grass and murmured “Trust me, Danny, the real explanation is so much more fucked up than anything I could ever come up with.”

Then it was his turn and he was spared any further conversation. 

Training went horrible. Derek followed Scott’s every suggestion and was of course awesome at lacrosse just like every other werewolf. Was that a werewolf-thing, playing Lacrosse, Stiles wondered. That would explain why they all chose to come to Beacon Hills. Or maybe they did it to torture Stiles. 

In the locker room everyone was chatting animatedly, most of them with Derek.  
“You’re awesome, man!” Greenburg said and patted a grinning Derek on the shoulder.   
“Yeah, I can’t believe you haven’t played before!” Danny joined in and winked at Stiles. 

“Guys, guys, why are you all so surprised?” Stiles chimed in, grinning widely and petting Derek’s head in mock-affection. “He’s related to me, of course he’s a pro!” That had to be enough to prove to Derek that he wasn’t mad at him or holding some sort of grudge.   
And he wasn’t, of course he wasn’t, it was just a little annoying and a little unfair that everyone instantly liked Derek and accepted him and that Derek didn’t value the work Stiles put in making sure that his fake identity wasn’t discovered.   
Okay, so maybe Stiles was a bit bitter. But anyone would be in his situation, right? It was only understandable. 

After some more friendly bickering (“You wish, Stilinski. This kid has talent! You’re…somewhat okay after four years of training!”) Stiles finally left the school grounds with Derek in tow. 

They sat in his car, Stiles for once silent, when Derek spoke up. “Did I do something to make you mad?”

Damn. Talk about being direct.   
“What? No, no, why’d you think that? You’re cool, Derek, we’re cool, everything’s good, no worries” Okay, maybe a little over the top. 

“You sure? Cause you didn’t seem impressed when I went to lacrosse practice. Is it cause I’m better at it than you?” 

“Wow, so you’ve really always had that charming personality…” Stiles murmured and added, a bit louder “No, it’s not because you’re ‘better than me’. Everyone and their grandma is better than me, it’s no secret. Dude, you’re a big, bad werewolf; of course you’re better than me. I’ve stopped caring, to be honest, it’s like you said, really, lacrosse is kinda stupid, but then again, so are most sports. Did you know that chess is considered a sport? That’s probably the only one I’d beat you guys at, no offense. But no, I’m totally not mad, you survived your first day, your real identity wasn’t found out, you didn’t wolf out, no one got hurt and people like you. You’re actually popular. So. Perfect day or what? And, dude, I had no idea you speak Spanish!”

Stiles parked his jeep in front of the house and jumped out of the car without waiting for an answer. If he was completely honest with himself he didn’t want to hear it. Because it was stupid and mean of him to be jealous of Derek when he was currently the victim of some evil supernatural voodoo. Especially because the mastermind behind the attack – whatever kinds of benefits turning Derek into a 16-year-old actually held – was most likely Kate Argent, Derek’s murderous psycho ex-girlfriend. Derek had a horrible track record when it came to women, Stiles noticed. He had had to kill his first girlfriend, his second girlfriend had turned out to really be a hunter who had gotten in his pants to kill Derek’s whole family and his third girlfriend had been a Darach who had been out to pretty much kill everyone.   
Well, that alone was enough to turn anyone into a closed off, brooding mess. 

The sheriff was still at work, so the house was empty. Or at least it was supposed to be, but Stiles could hear music from upstairs and sounds as if someone was dancing.   
He instinctively grabbed the bat that stood next to the door when Derek chuckled.

“D’you wanna hit your girlfriend with a baseball bat? I mean, sure, she’s a bit clingy, but that’s extreme.” 

Stiles looked at him, dumbfounded. He slowly let go of the bat. “My…girlfriend?”

“Yeah, Malia or whatever her name is. She’s in your room.” 

Stiles immediately felt foolish. He hoped it didn’t show on his face, but it always did.   
“She’s not really my girlfriend…” he murmured, more towards the floor than to Derek. 

“She’s not?” Derek asked, actually bewildered. “I thought with all the kissing and sharing a bed…”

“Yeah…no, buddy, no. Freakish werewolf hearing…”   
He unceremoniously dropped his backpack at the end of the stairs and called “Malia! You hungry? I’m gonna make dinner!” upstairs, then turned to Derek who was still standing rather uselessly in the middle of the room. “You hungry?”

“Hell yeah!” Derek grinned at Stiles and followed him. A second later, Malia joined them. She stood in the doorframe and glared daggers at Derek. 

“What’s he doing here? Why is he here again, Stiles? You’re always with him, I don’t like it.” She took a few steps into the small, chaotic kitchen, until her nose was nearly touching Derek’s.   
“You!” she exclaimed and jabbed a clawed finger at him, “I don’t like you. If you were wounded in the woods and I were hungry, I would eat you.” 

“Riiiiight, but I wouldn’t, I feel more like mac and cheese. Mac and cheese, anyone? Derek? Mac and cheese?” Stiles cut in, hoping to defuse the situation before it became…a situation. 

Malia’s reaction was instantaneous. She backed off immediately and was at Stiles’ side in less than a second. “I’ll take anything you cook, Stiles, everything you make tastes great!” 

Stiles huffed. “Right. What about you, Derek?”

“Sure, mac and cheese sounds awesome.” Derek replied with a shrug. 

“Awesome!” Stiles exclaimed tiredly and started rummaging through the cupboard in search of the ingredients. “Just make sure we finish everything, I don’t want my dad eating greasy food like that.” 

He quickly set the table while the noodles were cooking, the rich smell of melting cheese filling the kitchen. Derek’s stomach growled audibly and Stiles couldn’t suppress a short laugh.   
He loaded their plates and passed one to Derek and Malia and sat down at the table.

“You know why I spend so much time with Derek, Malia. He doesn’t have anyone else right now and no place where he can stay. He’s our friend, so we’re doing every possible thing to help him.” Stiles explained slowly in between several spoonfuls of noodles. 

Malia put her own spoon down and glared at Derek. “But you’re the only one doing anything! Why can’t Scott take him?” 

“Hey! I’m not a dog!” Derek, who had kept quiet until then, exclaimed, apparently offended. 

Yes, you are, Stiles thought, but he nodded at Derek. “He’s right, and it’s really not nice to talk about people like that. Scott and his boss are doing some research on how to help Derek.” And Lydia and Peter, but Stiles was not about to say that. If Derek saw Peter, all hell would break loose. “We’re doing that, because we all care about him. We’d do the same for you, if something like what has happened to Derek happened to you.” 

Malia nodded grudgingly. 

“Good. We’re all friends here, Malia, remember?” Stiles said in the patient tone of voice one would use with a little kid. And really, for all intents and purposes she was. Her understanding of the world was lacking to say the least and she had only attended primary school, so her knowledge was very limited as well. The only factor that didn’t fit was the fact that she sneaked into Stiles’ bed every night for more than just innocent cuddles. 

“That food was awesome!” Derek suddenly proclaimed and put down his spoon. “Where did you learn to cook like that? This is the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had!” 

His comment actually made Stiles smile. “Thanks. I’ve pretty much taught myself. Ever since my mom passed away, I’ve had to take care of my dad. If I didn’t cook, he’d only eat burgers.” Stiles winked and put the plates in the dishwasher. 

“I’ll head upstairs to do some homework now.”

“Oh, then I’ll come with you!” Malia squeaked and got up. 

“Actually, do you think you could do me a favor and help Scott? I mean, just in case anything happens…” 

“But he’s got Kira, she has a sword!”

“It’s actually a katana, not that that really matters, but Kira can’t control her powers at all. It’s like they simply vanished or something, anyway her mojo’s gone. She also doesn’t heal faster or anything and she’d distract Scott. Like, have you seen the way they look at each other? It’s Allison all over again…” 

Stiles felt the blood drain from his face at his own words. He felt his whole body go cold and his hands start to shake.   
They didn’t talk about Allison. Somehow, that had turned into an unspoken rule. No one mentioned her, ever.   
But that didn’t mean they had forgotten about her. 

Stiles felt tears welling up in his eyes and bit his lower lip, hard. “Just…please go to him and make sure he’s save, just for today, okay? I really need to do some homework now, sorry kids.” 

Without sparing Derek and Malia another glance, Stiles rushed to his room. There, he tried to get his erratic breathing under control, but it was no use.   
His hands were shaking too badly to hold on to his backpack, so he let it fall to the floor and fell on the bed. He buried his head deep in the pillows as sobs shook his body.

It was his fault Allison was dead.   
Everyone was suffering because of him. And now that Scott was finally about to be happy again, he had to make fun of his relationship. That was the kinda friend he was. No one needed a friend like him. No one needed him, period. His dad had even stopped caring at some point and Stiles got it. It was like what that hallucination at Lydia’s pool party two years ago had sad, he was just a hyperactive, spazzy kid, all he ever did was annoy people and his dad was fed up with it. 

And Stiles got it, he was fed up with himself. 

He took a few shallow breaths through his nose after the sobs stopped. Then he wiped at his face with his sleeve. It felt puffy and Stiles hoped Derek wouldn’t come into his room any time soon. But even if he did, Stiles could play it off as allergies. If this Derek was as dense as the old one, he wouldn’t notice a thing. Or maybe the real Derek simply didn’t care. Although he really was a little dense, Stiles mused. 

His gaze fell on the mess that was his desk and Stiles couldn’t suppress a whimper. There was still his homework to take care of. At the other hand, he hadn’t managed any research last night and although the pack had met today to start their research, Stiles didn’t place too much trust in their abilities. 

He glanced at his alarm clock. It was only 10pm. There was still plenty time to do both research and homework. 

It was nearing 2am and Stiles had finished all of his homework. The research, on the other hand, went frustratingly slowly. There was a lot on Aztec wolf myths and also more than enough on the city of la Iglesia, but nothing, absolutely nothing on anything even remotely connected to de-aging. 

Stiles had ripped out a few strands of hair, broken his record of swiveling in his swivel chair and drank more energy drinks than a human being should probably consume in a month. His senses were on high alert, so he was startled to pick up a noise. 

It was a small, pitiful sound that sounded vaguely like…crying? Who the fuck would be crying in the Stilinski house at 2am? Stiles was awake, his dad was asleep and…oh. Oh, Derek. Had Stiles really just forgotten about Derek? Maybe it was time for bed. 

But just as Stiles turned off his Mac, he heard it again. This time it definitely sounded like a strangled sob. Derek was crying. 

As if the day couldn’t get any worse. 

Stiles took a deep breath, briefly massaged his temples and got up. Most likely the poor kid was just having some kind of nightmare. Stiles would check on him because it was the decent thing to do. After all, he knew how bad nightmares could get. And he didn’t need his dad waking up from the noise, he needed all the sleep he could get, after all, his shift would start at 6am. 

So Stiles tiptoed over to Derek’s room, careful not to step on any creaking part of the floor in the darkness and accidentally wake his dad, and opened the door. 

Blue, glowing eyes greeted him and Stiles immediately backed off.   
“Derek, buddy, it’s alright!” he whispered urgently. He did not need a wolfed out Derek in his house at 2am. “It was just a bad dream, you’re safe.” 

Derek’s eyes turned back to normal and Stiles turned on the lamp on the nightstand. 

In the eerie light Derek looked haunted, all pale and shaken from his nightmare and Stiles followed his instincts and pulled him into a hug. 

Derek’s whole body was shaking and he was clinging onto Stiles’ shirt as if he was holding on to dear life. 

“Shh, it’s alright” Stiles whispered soothingly while rubbing Derek’s back. “That was one hell of a nightmare, huh? But you’re safe, don’t worry, everything’s fine, you’re okay” 

After a few minutes Derek had calmed down and Stiles let go of him. 

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to wake you” Derek murmured, but Stiles just snorted dismissively.   
“I wasn’t asleep, no worries dude.” 

He then got up, ready to go to bed, when Derek’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm. 

“Um, y’know, uh, my family, when I have nightmares, I mean, um, after Paige, when it got bad they, someone always stayed with me, in the room, um, so that I could sleep…” Derek stuttered, staring at the blanket. 

Stiles blinked. And yawned. 

Derek’s head shot up at the sound and Stiles rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, dude, long day and all…”

“No, no, it’s fine, um, I’ll be fine, it’s really nothing, forget what I said!” Derek looked close to panicking now and Stiles sighed. He would so regret this in the morning, but he wanted to sleep and Derek looked miserable. 

“Come on, my bed’s big enough for two.” 

Derek’s eyes lit up and he was out of the bed in a second. 

Stiles sighed again. “But I’m not the little spoon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there! 
> 
> As always, feedback's appreciated :)
> 
> No I'm off to see Monday's episode, finally!


	5. There are werewolves running around in the world. Everything's a joke to me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sitting in a Starbucks, this chapter was written on the train...enjoy!

It was warm. Hot, actually. And there was some kind of weight on top of him.   
Stiles opened his eyes crankily and blinked a few times.   
He was in his bed, good, awesome, actually, and there was an arm on top of him. A muscular arm. 

Stiles jerked up and hit his head on the wall behind him. 

“Ow, Jesus Christ, what the-?” He cursed and rubbed the back of his head. Yup, he was most definitely awake now. 

“Mm, be quiet” a voice to his left grumbled, snapping Stiles back to reality. 

His mouth fell open when he saw Derek, clad only in a shirt and boxers, snuggling into Stiles’ pillows. 

That was new. If anything, Stiles had woken up to a softly snoring Malia, but usually he was alone. 

Derek pulled at the blanket and buried himself under it. 

Stiles yawned loudly and rubbed at his eyes. Derek was in Stiles’ bed after all, stealing Stiles’ blanket. He couldn’t expect Stiles to be quiet for his sake, too. 

Still, Stiles was awake now, so he could just get up. Maybe he’d get to catch up on the texts by the pack. 

So he jumped out of the bed and nearly collided with the wall again when the blood came rushing to his head. He blinked away the white spots and walked over to where his clothes lay in a pile on the floor. He wasn’t making an effort to be quiet and he most definitely hadn’t just tiptoed through his room.   
Well, okay, maybe he had. But only because Derek had had a nightmare and surely needed his sleep. Yes, that was it, if Derek didn’t get his sleep, Stiles bet he’d get all cranky and go sour wolf on him and that was something Stiles didn’t need at – he glanced at his alarm clock – 6:45am. So. His being quiet? All for precaution’s sake.

And where could he read the pack’s texts the most cautiously? Right, the bathroom. And while he was there, he could also just take a shower and get ready.   
When had it started that he didn’t feel save in his own bedroom? Ah, right, maybe when he had decided that inviting Derek Hale into his bed was a good idea. Goddammit! 

So Stiles blindly grabbed some of the clothes strewn all about – seriously, it would probably fit just fine, and even if it didn’t Stiles didn’t care much, after all, he wasn’t exactly known for his keen fashion sense – and tiptoed off to the bathroom. 

He had 17 new texts. Huh. Was this a sign of his friends’ desperation or had they actually managed to produce results without him? Unlikely. 

There were a number of texts from Scott, asking if Derek was doing okay, if he had asked any troubling question and surprisingly, even one asking how Stiles was holding up. Lydia complained about what a creep Peter was and how she hated working with him and that it should really be Stiles doing the research – and the working with Peter part. They apparently hadn’t had any breakthrough yet, although Peter knew some people who knew some people who might know something about the whereabouts of Kate Argent. Well, if that didn’t sound promising.   
The remaining texts were from Malia, saying that Scott was boring and that Deaton didn’t smell like normal humans and that he kept looking at her all strangely and that she’d much rather be spending time with Stiles. 

Stiles deleted Scott and Lydia’s text, just to make sure that Derek absolutely wouldn’t be able to read them, even though he probably had no idea how to operate a smart phone, given that he was from the year 2005 and they hadn’t been invented yet, but better save than sorry. 

Then he took a quick shower and decided that his outfit was more than alright for school. 

When he opened the bathroom door, Derek was standing in front of, waiting. Stiles jumped backwards, his heart racing. 

“Dude! Derek! What are you doing? D’you wanna give me a heart attack? Christ, your stalker tendencies really aren’t funny anymore, dude! Were you listening to me showering?” He spluttered indignantly, eyes wide. 

Derek looked at him in utter bewilderment. “No, I, I just wanted to use the toilet, why would I listen to you showering, that’s weird!”

Stiles could feel the adrenaline fade, so he stepped out of the bathroom and made a wide gesture. “Well then, here you go, all yours!”

Muttering something under his breath, Derek walked into the room and quickly closed the door. 

Stiles rubbed the back of his head. These living arrangements seriously sucked.   
He was momentarily glad he didn’t have any siblings. This whole being considerate business was getting annoying really fast. 

Well. Couldn’t be helped right now. Stiles grabbed his backpack and ran down the stairs like he always had. There was this thing about stairs, Stiles mused, somehow people couldn’t help running theirs up and down, it was something you just had to do. If they were your stairs, you took them by running, walking normally was not an option.   
Stiles had always run up Scott’s stairs, too, back when he had actually still be visiting his best friend. 

The sheriff had left his empty coffee mug sitting on the table, like every morning, and like every morning, Stiles reached over to grab it and deposit it in the dishwasher, when something caught his eyes and he froze. There was a note. Halfway hidden by the mug was a note in his dad’s shitty, scrawly handwriting. 

His dad never left a note. 

This couldn’t mean anything good. 

Stiles could hear his heartbeat and felt it quicken momentarily. He didn’t want to read the note. There was a lump forming in his throat and Stiles felt as if it spread throughout his body, leaving him feeling cold and sad and alone.   
He reached for the note with shaking fingers. It was a plain, yellow post-it, nothing out of the ordinary, like the ones Stiles used for studying.   
Stiles took a calming breath, which didn’t do anything to calm him, and read the note. It was like a punch to the gut. 

‘We need to talk’ was sprawled over the paper, no ‘good morning’, no ‘have a nice day’, no ‘see you later’ and certainly no ‘love you’. Simply ‘We need to talk’. 

But what did his dad want to talk about? Stiles felt bitter. What didn’t he want to talk about? There were the Eichen House bills, for one, and the possibility of more check-ups, there was the whole situation with Derek and the fact that he was lying to his dad again, there was the nogitsune situation and the fact that Stiles had avoided talking about any of it, especially Allison and there was also school and oh God, what if one of his teachers had called his dad because he was failing a class?! Stiles wouldn’t even notice at this point, he was sure of that. Most of the time, he didn’t even know in which class he was sitting, much less what he was supposed to do there. And his homework? Yeah, he hadn’t turned any in in a long time. 

He could feel black spots forming in his vision that grew more hazy by the second. Drawing breath became difficult and the feeling of panic, mindless, all-encompassing panic, was about to overwhelm him. The coffee cup fell out of his hand and shattered on the floor. 

“Stiles?” a voice called and a moment later Derek stood behind him and grabbed Stiles’ shoulders. “Stiles, what’s wrong? What happened?” He shook Stiles form a bit and Stiles sucked in gulps of air. 

Anger took the place of panic and Stiles whipped around, shoving Derek away from him in the process.   
“Nothing’s wrong, get your hands off me! God! Go play lacrosse or basketball or go howling at the moon with Scott or something, but leave me alone! Get off me!” Stiles practically shouted breathing heavily, his lips curled in a snarl. He shoved Derek again and crouched down and started collecting the ceramic shards. 

He was silently joined by another pair of hands that quickly collected all the shards before Stiles, whose hands were shaking too badly to be holding anything, much less to be picking up potentially sharp shards, could hurt himself. 

Stiles leaned against the table and closed his eyes.   
That hadn’t been nice of him, not at all, in fact, that had been a douchebag-move and Derek hadn’t deserved it. And now the kid was cleaning his mess. If only he could do that to his other messes as easily. 

“Sorry” Stiles murmured and ran a hand over his face. “That was…mean. I’m not an asshole, Derek, I don’t know what got into me. Shoving a werewolf…” He chuckled humorlessly and took Derek’s offered hand to get up.

Derek looked slightly bemused, but also…concerned? Stiles brushed the thought off.   
“Seriously, dude, that was not cool of me, sorry. I’m all good now! Also…we should prolly head to school” He winked at Derek and made for the door, the note stuffed into the back pocket of his jeans. 

Derek seemed as if he wanted to say something but thought better of it and just followed Stiles to the car silently. 

Stiles hoped he hadn’t antagonized him completely. He could live with Derek thinking of him as a nutcase, but the thought of Derek really outright hating him didn’t sit right with Stiles. Especially because this time, Stiles would really deserve that hatred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish this story in 15 chapters...
> 
> thanks for reading! :)


	6. We have 117 million problems and worrying about our status on the lacrosse team is not one of them.

At school Stiles couldn’t concentrate on much. The note in his back pocket seemed to be slowly burning a hole into his jeans and caused his thoughts to circle uselessly, even worse than usual.   
However, he actually turned in his homework for once, so that had to count for something. 

By lunch Stiles was a nervous wreck and it was showing. He had fiddled with his shirt’s sleeve so much that the button had fallen off, so he was now ripping out loose threads causing the sleeve to look distinctly frayed. 

Several times he had considered simply texting his dad, demanding an answer or at least a hint, anything to calm his nerves, but he had ultimately done nothing but unlock and lock his phone rapidly. All it had done was cause his phone’s battery to dwindle and his teachers to threaten to take his phone. 

When the bell rang Stiles followed Scott to the cafeteria, passing his phone from his left to his right hand and back again. 

“Dude, you waiting for someone to call or something?” Scott asked finally when they were sitting at their usual table. Kira, Malia, Lydia and Derek were still standing in line to get some lunch, so it was just the two of them. 

Stiles dropped the phone as if it was on fire. Then he mentally cursed himself. That was very inconspicuous behavior right there. Well, that was done, no use in pretending to be calm anymore. Instead he shrugged sheepishly opting for the first lie that came to mind. Namely “Well, uh, I thought a certain creepy uncle might text me the results of the research so far. It’s just, I feel kinda useless, y’know? Cause I’m not really doing anything, and you know me, Scotty, I might be your Robin, but I’m not Alfred. I can’t just sit at home while you get all the action. God knows my dad prefers it this way, but I just, no offense, but I’m not sure if you can manage. On your own, that is, with all the research, I know it’s not exactly your strongest point. Y’know what I mean, right, man?” 

There. That was more like it. A nice long rant with no substance whatsoever. 

Scott just smiled after processing for a moment and waved Stiles’ worries aside. “It’s cool, dude, I get it. You’re the brains, I’m the brawn. Of course you wanna know what’s going on. How have things with Derek been? He asked questions?” 

Just as Stiles wanted to start talking about the last days, he was cut off by the arrival of the rest of the group. 

“The lunch lady is slow! I don’t understand why she is paid!” Malia declared loudly and set down her tray with more force than necessary. Then she took the chair next to Stiles and moved it as close towards him as possible without placing it in his lap. “Morning, Stiles” she said, not as agitated, and gave him a quick peck on the mouth. 

In that moment Stiles wished Malia was his anchor like Allison had been Scott’s. Only figuratively speaking, of course, since Stiles was not a werewolf, but he’d have liked it if he could have just taken Malia’s hand and calmed down. The prospect sounded really relaxing.   
Alas, Malia didn’t have that kind of effect on him and Stiles remained edgy as fuck. 

He looked up, feeling as if he was being watched, only to meet Derek’s piercing gaze. Stiles had to keep himself from visibly cringing, but Derek just pulled his eyebrows together before concentrating on his food again.  
All throughout lunch Derek kept throwing glances at Stiles, but he kept quiet all the same. 

When Stiles got up to go to English Derek jumped up, too, and grabbed Stiles’ sleeve, the frayed one. Stiles stopped dead in his tracks. Was Derek really gonna bring up the morning’s incident at school? With all of Stiles’ friends present?   
Stiles’ heart started racing again. At that pace he’d have a heart attack within the week. 

“Hey guys!” he called over to Scott and the rest, “I’ll be right there, okay? Just gotta talk to Derek real quick, you don’t have to wait up.” 

Scott hesitated for a moment, but Kira grabbed on to his arm and pulled him with her, smiling at Stiles. 

Stiles smiled back at her and turned to Derek, the smile melting off his face in a second.   
“What is it?” he asked anxiously. 

Derek looked so fucking concerned again that Stiles had to fight the urge to shake him. This was Derek, Derek didn’t do concerned, Derek didn’t care if Stiles was freaking out, Derek didn’t care about Stiles, period. At least that was the way it was supposed to be, because apparently this Derek hadn’t gotten the memo. 

“Are you okay?” Derek asked softly, causing the little hairs on Stiles’ arm to stand up.   
A shiver ran down his back and he started fiddling with the frayed sleeve again. 

“Yeah, sure, I mean, I guess.” Stiles shrugged in a not very convincing manner. 

“You didn’t tell Scott and the rest of your friends.” Derek remarked. 

Well, hell. The little shit was observant, apparently. Since when? 

Stiles groaned. 

“Don’t you tell them things?” Derek asked. 

“No, no, I do, really. Usually, I mean, usually I talk to Scott, I mean, I talk to all of them, I talk all the time after all. It’s just, right now, everyone’s worrying about more important stuff, like helping you, so I don’t need them worrying about me. I mean, it’s probably nothing anyway, I’ll be fine.”

“Didn’t look like nothing this morning” Derek murmured. 

“Look, I appreciate your…concern, dude, but I gotta get to English now. Be a good werewolf and go to class, I’ll see you in practice, okay?” With that, Stiles left Derek standing in the cafeteria and jogged to his English class. This was becoming a daily thing.   
Did Derek actually care? Or was he just scared that Stiles would pull some psycho shit on Derek and flip? Probably the latter, but it was nice to pretend. Nice and a tad unsettling. Stiles could only hope that Derek wouldn’t tell. 

If Scott knew he was having panic attacks again he would surely find some way to blame himself. They were alike in that manner, kinda, but with the difference that none of the mess was Scott’s fault. The whole start of the supernatural shit could be traced back to Stiles. It had been his genius idea to go to the woods looking for half a dead body after all and with the at that time still asthmatic Scott, without telling a soul about their plans. Yeah, that had been one of Stiles’ not-so-proud moments. What had he been thinking? 

Scott hadn’t even been supposed to be there, Peter should never have bitten him. If it weren’t for Stiles, Scott and Melissa and his dad and Lydia and everyone would still be living in blissful ignorance. Allison would still be alive and Jackson wouldn’t have gone to London, probably. And Stiles and Scott would still be Stiles and Scott, two unpopular, geeky guys, bad at lacrosse and invisible for pretty much everyone. Sure, Lydia wouldn’t have talked to him and would certainly never have gone to any kind of dance with him and he wouldn’t have met Malia at all since she’d still be a coyote, but in retrospect Stiles would have preferred that version of events.   
Had everything stayed the way it was supposed to be, Stiles’ dad surely wouldn’t have written Stiles a note. And he wouldn’t have unpaid bills from Eichen House because Stiles wouldn’t have gone. And he wouldn’t have written a note, because there wouldn’t have been anything to talk about. 

“Mr. Stilinski, why don’t you read out your essay today? Assuming you wrote one.” Stiles winced and raised his head, disoriented. “Mr. Stilinski? Did I interrupt your musings?”

Stiles chuckled self-consciously and opened the binder that contained his essay. “No, I’m sorry. Right. The essay, sure, no problem at all…” 

His essay was spot-on and Stiles was left alone for the remainder of the lesson. When he caught Lydia’s eye she threw him an impressed glance and Scott gave him a thumbs-up. Malia was busy highlighting the whole textbook and Kira was concentrating on the lesson. 

Stiles shifted in his seat, thinking of the note and felt miserable. 

When class ended, Stiles and Scott went to the locker room to change for practice. For once Stiles didn’t feel like skipping. Anything to postpone that talk.   
Derek was already there, pacing in front of the door nervously. Upon their arrival, he stopped dead in his tracks and hurried over to them.   
Stiles raised his eyebrows and Scott stopped mid-sentence (something about Kira’s parents wanting to move, Stiles wasn’t really paying attention). 

“Oh no. Der- Miguel, what happened? What did you do?” Stiles asked, immediately imagining the worst. Derek had gone full werewolf. Derek had accidentally hurt someone. Derek had hurt his teacher. Oh God, no, he’d not only hurt her, he’d killed her! 

“Whatever it is, talk to us, we’ll figure something out.” Scott tried, ever the optimist.

Derek took a deep breath and looked at his shoes in obvious embarrassment. 

“It’s stupid. I’m supposed to know this, I’m sure. But I just don’t and I don’t want people to think I’m weird.” He paused. 

“…yes?” Stiles asked and Scott said “You can tell us, we won’t laugh or anything.”

“The phones. Cell phones.” 

“What about them?” Scott asked obliviously. 

“They are everywhere! Everyone’s got one and they take pictures and everything and I don’t have one and I don’t remember them. At all.”

Stiles released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and laughed. He laughed until there were tears in his eyes and he was struggling for breath. 

Derek looked vaguely offended and Stiles couldn’t help but laugh even more at Derek’s expression.   
He had trouble calming down. 

“That’s your problem, dude? You’re awesome, really!”

Scott tried for a more diplomatic approach. “Yours must have gotten lost when you were kidnapped. I think I still got an old one somewhere, I’ll look for it, okay?” 

Derek looked a little more content and Stiles was still chuckling softly when they entered the locker room. 

The note in his back pocket burned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, lovelies! :) 
> 
> I'm on my way to Berlin right now, gonna stay there for a week, so I don't know how regularly I'll be able to upload since I'm sharing a room and I don't wanna annoy anyone with the typing and stuff. Sorry! 
> 
> Feedback is much appreciated, as always :)


	7. This is more a war of the mind than of the body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I neglected sleep and college for this! And I still haven't seen the episode :(

Stiles and Derek arrived back at Stiles’ before his dad did. 

Lacrosse practice had been good and Derek had agreed to meet up with some fellow sophomores later. He found friends faster than Stiles himself, he had noticed quite a bit bitterly.   
But for now he had followed Stiles home and was because of that at the moment falling victim to Stiles’ absolute nervousness. 

Stiles was pacing the kitchen anxiously, turning at every noise, picking up random objects like apples and coffee mugs and setting them down somewhere else all the while chewing his bottom lip, his eyes darting back and forth. 

“Stiles!” Derek yelled suddenly. 

Stiles winced and looked at Derek, swinging back and forth on his heels. 

“Stop that, you’re driving me mad! Just sit down, your dad’s gonna be here in an hour, you said so yourself!” 

“Well yeah, but! What if something happens, like, see, he stays for over time so often, maybe today he’s taking some time off? I mean, he could do that, being Sheriff and all, it’s not like anyone could tell his boss - he is the boss! And if he did that, yeah, then he’d be here earlier, right? It’s at least a possibility!” 

Stiles was now drumming his fingers on the table, completely antsy. 

Derek rolled his eyes. “What does he even wanna talk about?”

“That is the thing, man! I got no clue! He didn’t tell! He just wrote this fucking note and he never does that, y’know, never and I’m just…” Stiles trailed off before saying something he would regret later. But Derek threw him a look that was so open und encouraging and if Stiles squinted he could swear it wasn’t Derek Hale in his kitchen but instead a little puppy. He sighed. “I’m just worried, okay? You happy now? I’m not fine, I’m actually terrified, but Scott and the rest don’t need to know that and you don’t need to worry about me. I mean, it’s touching that you do, really, but don’t. Please just don’t, man, it’s not worth it.”

Stiles leaned back and drummed a different rhythm on the armrest of the chair. 

“Your dad worries. It’s what parents do.”   
Derek was very quiet for a while, so quiet that Stiles stopped his drumming to risk a glance at him. Derek wore a deeply troubled expression on his face that reminded Stiles of the night before and the nightmares. 

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly and Derek shook his head. 

“Where is my family, Stiles?”

Stiles went very, very still and felt a rush of cold sweep over him. He stopped his drumming right in the middle of the rhythm. 

Shit.   
Fuck.   
What the fuck was he supposed to say?

“They’re not in Beacon Hills anymore” he breathed shakily, making the story up as he went. No outright lying, no lying, he kept repeating in his head. Easier said than done. “They were forced to leave because of some not-so funny business with a family of hunters.”

“Where are they? When can I see them?” Pause. “Why haven’t they called yet? Are they okay? Did something happen to them? Stiles, those hunters, they didn’t…they didn’t kill my family, did they?” Derek asked in horror, putting an emphasis on the ‘kill’. 

Stiles’ heart sped up and he prayed that Derek would never find out. He was about to do a horrible thing.   
“Well, there was this fire, right? You’ve seen the house, it’s pretty much all gone. Yeah, that was because of those hunters. Your family felt, uh, very attacked, so to speak, and things looked pretty bad for a while, like, werewolf-hunter-war type of bad, but ultimately your mom decided it wasn’t worth it - clever woman, werewolf, whatever, by the way – and called for a truce and you moved to a different place for a while, cause, yeah, your house was pretty much gone, but you and your sister still attended school here, but then the whole kidnapping-business went down and your mom took her pack and just bolted. I mean, can you blame her? The Calaveras are not a family you wanna fuck with and it looked like more hunters than just them were involved and things were pretty heated beforehand, also between you and your family, because, uh, y’know, because of the whole thing with Paige, so, um, you weren’t on best terms, okay? And they left for somewhere, we don’t know where, but they’ve got our numbers and they’ll contact us. For now though, they just wanted to get away as far as possible from Beacon Hills, because your mom didn’t wanna risk a war. So yeah, bottom line, we think they’re okay; the situation here was dangerous for them, so they had to leave. I’m sure they’ll call soon, buddy.”

Derek was quiet for a moment, taking it all in. Then his eyes changed color to a radiant blue making the hairs on Stiles’ back stand up. 

“Who. Was. It?” Derek asked, appearing deadly calm on the outside while his claws dug into the armrests of the chair. 

“Woah, stay calm, Derek, no reason to Hulk out!” Stiles tried to placate him, “I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell, it’s super top-secret stuff, like…” He gestured wildly, looking for a good example and finding none. “…the fight between the X-Men and the Brotherhood. You gotta ask Scott, I’m not even that involved, I’m no mutant. I mean werewolf, I’m no werewolf or werecoyote or kitsune or banshee, I’m not even a druid. So, I’m sorry, I know it sucks not to know anything, but it’s not my call to make. Ask Scotty.” 

During Stiles’ explanation Derek’s eyes had changed back to normal. He nodded and seemed to relax. Then he quirked an eyebrow. “Did you just compare us to the X-Men?” 

“Uh, yes?” Stiles asked, shrugging helplessly. Comic book references was what he did, after all. “I mean, it’s not too far-fetched, right? With the superpowers and life in the shadows, hiding you true identity from the world?! Yeah man, you’re totally the X-Men” 

Derek grinned. “Did you see the new movie? Man, it was so good!” 

Stiles made a choked sound at that. What the fuck? “Dude, you’ve seen the X-Men movies?! What?! You sure that you’re Derek Hale?!” His eyes were wide with disbelief and to say he was shocked was a gross understatement. Derek liked superhero-movies. Who’d have known? 

“Yeah, of course I did! Man, could you imagine having powers like – oh! Your dad’s just pulled into the driveway.” Derek interrupted himself and Stiles paled, nervousness returning full force.   
“Right. I’m just gonna meet Jess and the rest now. See you later, Stiles.”

Stiles felt vaguely betrayed but knew objectively that he should be grateful. Derek was being considerate and that was nice of him, especially because he was Derek and Derek usually didn’t care. About anything concerning Stiles. That was kinda his job description: looking all dark and brooding and evil and menacing and being all dark and brooding and gloomy and grumpy and sour. And not caring. 

Stiles started to wonder when 16-year-old sunshine and rainbows-Derek had changed into the sour wolf he was today. Had it been a rapid change, right after the fire or had there been a process? Maybe he’d ask Peter about it one day. Derek himself would never talk about his life, least of all with Stiles. 

“I’m back, kiddo!” The sheriff called and Stiles was brought back to the present harshly. A moment later his dad entered the kitchen. He looked tired. It was probably Stiles’ fault. 

“Hey, dad” Stiles murmured not meeting his eye. “Everything alright at work?” 

“Oh well, the usual, some domestic violence, a stabbing in the gas station just outside town, a case of breaking and entering – nothing spectacular. How was your day?”

Stiles just shrugged. “I was at school, nothing spectacular.” He paused. “You, um, you wanted to talk to me?”

The sheriff nodded and sat down right in front of Stiles. A sinking feeling was forming in Stiles’ stomach. “I’m sorry!” he blurted out, not even really knowing what he was apologizing for. He didn’t know what his dad wanted to talk about, but it had to be Stiles’ fault and there was a long list of things that were Stiles’ fault. “If it’s because of school, I promise I’ll do better! And, and...if it’s Derek, we’re close, really! Lydia’s working on it, she’s a genius, like, a real one, like Sherlock Holmes or Einstein. And if it’s about going to Mexico without your permission-“

“Stiles!” He was cut off abruptly. 

Stiles gulped and stopped his ramblings. 

“It’s not about any of that.”

“Oh. Thank God! We actually have no idea how to cure Derek”

“It’s about college.”

Stiles stared blankly at his dad. He felt like there should be a connection and he should know the connection, but his brain was lost. College?   
“What?”

The sheriff sighed and took Stiles’ hand in his. “Your school called.” 

Not good, never, nope. School calling was the worst possible sign. 

“They said you haven’t written any application essays and haven’t been to the offered career counseling once. The form where you were supposed to fill your top choices wasn’t turned it and you didn’t say where to send your SAT-scores. What is that about, Stiles?” 

Stiles stared. And stared. His vision was tainted with white spots and started to blur at the edges and Stiles continued to stare.

He had completely forgotten about college applications.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The full moon is coming closer...
> 
> Feedback is lovely <3


	8. It's OK to want something for yourself once in a while. It's only human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a gazillion degrees outside and I couldn't type on the bus because there was this guy sitting next to me! It's that guy's fault that the chapter is so late! 
> 
> Enjoy anyway ;)

When Derek returned late at night Stiles and his dad were snuggled on the couch, wrapped in a layer of blankets. There was an assortment of chips and sweets on the table in front of them and the TV was running on the background. It was muted because the sheriff was sleeping, snoring softly. Stiles was just catching up on everyone’s texts and enjoying the moment.   
The conversation with his dad hadn’t been too bad and Stiles felt strangely content, at ease with himself and the world. 

He heard Derek before he entered the room and rose as silently as possible, turning the TV off as he left the room.   
Derek looked around the corner and Stiles put a finger to his mouth signaling him to be quiet and gestured upstairs. Apparently Derek understood because he nodded and went upstairs.   
Still in that weird state of happiness Stiles couldn’t help but smile softly as he covered his dad with even more blankets and turned off the lights in the living room. 

They had watched all three Iron Men movies and gorged on junk food together and it had been wonderful. Stiles had enjoyed every second of it. His dad hadn’t been mad at all and they had soon stopped talking about the issue and simply enjoyed themselves. If he was honest with himself it had been exactly what Stiles had needed. And somehow his dad had known.   
Oh God, he really loved him. So much. 

“So I take it your talk went well?” Derek asked when Stiles was coming up the stairs. Stiles nodded happily and pulled Derek to his room with him. He somehow had the habit of pulling at Derek’s clothes, he noticed. Ah well, this Derek hadn’t shoved him into a wall for it yet, so Stiles figured he was cool.   
He plopped down on the bed and sighed. 

“Yeah, like, he wasn’t even mad. I was behaving like Tony Stark in Iron Man 3 all day for no reason, man.” 

Derek just stared. Right, the first Iron Man movie had come out in 2008. Whatever. 

“So what did he want?” Derek asked being his pretty direct self. 

“Urgh, y’know, it’s pretty embarrassing, really…” Stiles chuckled self-consciously and rolled from one side of the bed to the other. Derek just waited until Stiles continued after a long-suffering sigh. “He was asking me about college, okay? I completely forgot about it with all the werewolf shit going on and having been possessed by a nogitsune and everything. So I just…I stopped turning stuff in at school and I stopped listening to the teachers, to be honest, so the whole college thing might have just…slipped my mind? Yeah, all right, that doesn’t sound too convincing, I admit. I might have just pushed it to the back of my mind repeatedly in order to not feel bad any more? If that makes sense?” He groaned. “Why am I telling you this?”

“Because I asked. And because you wanted to tell someone.” Derek was quiet for a few moments. “I’m gonna go to college on a basketball scholarship. I already got the offer. I mean, I hope I still do, because somehow, this is Beacon Hills and my high school, but at the same time it’s not and now there’s no basketball but lacrosse and I’m a little confused. But my plan is to go to college and continue playing basketball.” 

“Why a scholarship? Isn’t your family like super rich?” 

Derek’s expression turned a bit bitter. “Yeah, they are and I’m a werewolf so I could just force my way into any college I wanted. But that kinda feels like…cheating, y’know? I don’t wanna do that, I wanna accomplish it on my own, no matter how much Peter laughs at me. He thinks it’s stupid and that I’m playing around, but I’m not! He’s the one who hasn’t even looked for a job, he just creeps around all day!” 

Stiles laughed at that. The description of Peter was very accurate. Good to know he’d apparently always been that way. But to think that Derek had wanted to go to college. And on a sports scholarship at that…it made Stiles strangely sad. 

“What d’you wanna major in?” 

Derek shrugged, looking a little helpless. “I got no idea. Honestly, I just wanna play basketball and figure it out as I go. You?” 

Stiles became once again painfully aware of how little he really knew about Derek. He had no idea if Derek had actually gone to college or if he’d just spend the years after the fire silently brooding and trimming his eyebrows. Hell, he didn’t even know if Derek had finished high school. But he’d certainly never see him play basketball. Did Derek – the real, older one – have any hobbies at all? Except for behaving questionably and hanging around school like a fucking stalker?

“Becoming a detective would be pretty cool, I’m good at research and I’ve always helped my dad. Or a profiler, in a Will Graham kinda way, just without any Hannibal Lecters…so yeah, criminology or psychology. Or both. I could probably pull it off. I mean, I know I’m no genius like Lydia, but I can focus on stuff if it’s interesting stuff. Not stuff like chemistry and econ, obviously, although I still manage to get A’s there, somehow, or at least I did, but stuff like the beastiary I’ve got no problem working on for hours! I’ll first have to apply, though and then I’ll have to get accepted…” 

The bed squeaked slightly as Derek sat down next to Stiles and Stiles was shocked at the normality of the situation. There they were, just two teenagers sitting on a bed talking about college. Derek had once been a normal guy (werewolf, whatever) just like Stiles, with dreams and plans for the future and hobbies and a vision, just like any other 16-year-old. And then it had been taken from him by Kate Argent who had done nothing but lie to him. And now they were doing the exact same thing. That wasn’t right. They couldn’t keep on lying to Derek like that. He was starting to get suspicious as well, and really, who wouldn’t? Not even someone as thick as Scott could possible just believe all the bullshit they had been telling Derek. He’d find out, eventually, and the whole ugly truth would come to light. It had a habit of doing that, Stiles had noticed, and it usually wasn’t pretty when it happened. Derek would feel betrayed. This was all so wrong. Stiles hated it. 

“So if you’re that smart can you help me with my math homework?” Derek asked after a pause, grinning. 

Stiles sat up again and raised an eyebrow. “You serious, dude?” 

Derek just nodded in response and Stiles groaned. “Fine, okay, bring it on. But it’s just because I don’t want you to fail once you go to college on that scholarship!” 

Derek laughed and they spent the next two hours doing homework on Stiles’ bed. It was painfully normal and Stiles couldn’t help but think that he was experiencing the calm before the storm. 

When it was time to go to bed, Stiles hesitated. That nightmare of Derek’s the night before had seemed pretty intense, but he’d been calm once he’d lain down in Stiles’ bed. And the bed was big enough, so it wasn’t like they’d had to snuggle and hug each other and end up spooning. Okay! He could do this! Offering his bed to Derek Hale wasn’t awkward at all!   
Except it totally was. 

“Um, Derek!” he practically shouted just as Derek was collecting his things. Derek actually dropped his math book at the sudden outburst. Stiles could feel his face heat up. “If you’d like you could, uh, stay here in my bed, sleep in my bed, I mean, with me, again – I mean, oh God, dude, that sounds so wrong, I just meant that, if it helps with your nightmares, we can have a nice sleepover again like last night. I don’t actually mind and um…I know how bad nightmares can get, so I understand really. I won’t judge. And I don’t think it’s strange, um, I actually had my dad sleep in the same room as me after the nogitsune, so, yeah…I mean, only if you don’t think it’s strange, but if you do, forget everything I said before! Oh God, I’m awful…” 

But Derek didn’t seem grossed out or think Stiles was weird. Instead, he looked kind of glad and smiled, relieved. “Thanks, Stiles. I’m just gonna change and brush my teeth.” 

Stiles used the time to shoot Scott a short text. “Derek’s suspicious, we can’t keep lying to him. Need to talk to you in private ASAP!!!” Then he turned his phone off, just in case. 

A couple minutes later Derek, wearing a shirt and boxers, crawled into bed with Stiles. Stiles murmured a quiet “Good night” and tried not to freak out. The whole situation was bizarre, even by their standards. 

Once Derek’s breathing evened out Stiles was half-asleep as well. He hoped neither of them would have nightmares.

When he woke up the next morning, he felt like he was trapped in one. The only problem was the fact that he was most definitely awake. He could tell by the way he was sweating. It was hot. And by hot Stiles meant the temperature, not the fact that he was in bed with two other people, Derek to his left and Malia to his right, all sparsely clothed. No, it could most likely be attributed to the fact that two bodies produced quite a lot of body heat and that Stiles, being the one those two bodies were currently pressed against, was on the receiving end for all that heat. And hadn’t Deaton said something about a werewolf’s body temperature being higher than that of a human? 

So yes, the situation was very hot, but not in a way Stiles would have liked. He wanted to get far, far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, feedback is always appreciated!


	9. Full moon is coming, and with the way things are going, I have a feeling it's gonna be a rough one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so much for more than 100 kudos! You guys are awesome!!! You make me so happy!!! :)

The whole group was sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria having lunch. 

Stiles had fled his own bed that morning and taken a long, cold shower and when he had returned to his room, Malia and Derek had both been gone, Derek to his temporary room to get ready and Malia to god knew where. All Stiles had seen was that the window was open, so it felt safe to assume she had left.   
He deliberately hadn’t brought up the sleeping arrangements at breakfast and Derek had kept quiet as well. 

Stiles glanced at Malia in front of him who was just digging into her mashed potatoes and hoped she wouldn’t say anything. The last thing he needed was his friends thinking Malia, Derek and Stiles were in some fucked-up three-way relationship. That included sharing a bed. Oh God, they couldn’t ever know. 

So he tried to divert any possible attention – what attention? How were they supposed to even suspect anything? – by addressing a much more pressing problem.   
“Guys, you know what’s right around the corner?” 

Scott yelled “The decade dance!” at the same time Lydia said “The full moon”.   
Stiles looked at Scott in exasperation, Kira chuckled and Lydia just scoffed in their general direction. Malia looked mildly confused, like every so often. 

“What’s a decade dance?” she asked, not really looking at anyone in particular. 

Lydia sighed and Stiles hurried to explain in as few words as possible. “This year the theme is the 60s. You basically dress up like the people back then and they play music from the 60s and it’s supposed to be great fun. In reality though, nothing at this high school is ever fun and the dances especially suck, so it doesn’t matter.” 

“So we’re not going? It sounds like fun, I wanna go!” Malia declared immediately. Stiles wanted to bang his head on the table in front of him.   
“No, we’re not going! Malia, the last time we went to a stupid dance at school, Lydia got kidnapped and was found in the woods two days later. Naked.” 

Lydia scowled at Stiles, clearly not pleased about the reminder. “Right, thanks, Stiles. Moving on!” 

“You were naked in the woods for two days?” Kira suddenly cut in, incredulous. “Why? What happened?” 

Stiles hadn’t seen Lydia this mortified in a long time. Her cheeks were puffed, her eyebrows were drawn together, her lips were puckered and her hands were balled to fists.   
“It doesn’t matter, okay?” she screeched. “It was not a nice experience and nothing I want to relive any time soon, all right? Now, I think we have more pressing problems?” Her voice sounded strangely high. Apparently she still wasn’t completely over the whole being mind controlled by Peter-thing. 

Stiles had to suppress a shudder as thoughts of his own mind control arose.   
“Right. So. Full moon coming up, kids!” He clapped his hands once, not looking or feeling overly enthusiastic. “Malia, you’re still not fully in control, right?” 

Malia gave Stiles an uneasy look. “No, not really. I’ve been working on it, but…”

Stiles just nodded and turned to Derek. “What about you?” 

Derek’s eyes flashed a bright blue once. “I can control myself when it’s not the full moon. At least enough to get away before something happens. My uncle Peter was teaching me about the shift, he used this ancient artifact, a family heirloom, really, but it wasn’t much use.”

“The triskelion?” Scott asked, sounding proud for having remembered the name. Stiles rolled his eyes. Yep, Scott was a true alpha all right. 

“Yeah, do you know it? If we could get it, I might be able to work it our before the full moon.” Derek sounded hopeful and also so very young and innocent and as if he really believed his words, Stiles noticed. Not like the old Derek, who was grumpy and sour and scowling all the time when he wasn’t busy suffering from guilt trips and angst attacks all alone somewhere.   
Just thinking about it made Stiles feel guilty. Damn. 

At the other end of he table Scott had put a hand on Derek’s shoulder. “Even if we don’t find it, you’ll be able to master the shift. All you need is an anchor. It can be anything, really, a strong emotion, a person…” 

He seemed to struggle for words, so Stiles filled in.   
“…a feeling, a memory, anything, really, that holds some form of value and importance to you. Doesn’t have to be some stupid triangle thing that makes you go ‘alpha, beta, omega’ like a broken record! And I mean even if you can’t control yourself and Hulk ou- I mean wolf out, we’ve got a badass true alpha here who’ll beat your ass into submission. Um. Y’know. Y’know what I mean, right? Cause that’s not what I meant, but you get it, right, Derek? Right?” 

Lydia hit the back of Stiles’ head and he stopped his ramblings. Now Derek and Scott looked mortified as well. 

“I suggest we meet up after school. We can go to my place, my parents are gone, and practice.” Lydia suggested, but was immediately met with objections by Scott, Derek and Kira. 

“But it’s lacrosse practice! I’m about to play my first game!” Kira said, just as Scott nearly yelled, “I’m team captain, I can’t skip practice!” Derek joined in the protest, claiming “The coach and Scott said they need me on the team! I need to get better!” 

Their antics were completely ignored by everyone else in the cafeteria and Stiles was seriously happy that they weren’t awkward freshmen anymore – not to say that he was any less awkward now. It was just a fact that they had established a standing in school hierarchy that would probably even allow them to come to school in their pajamas and not be questioned. The presence of the captain of the lacrosse team and a lot of beautiful girls did that. 

A weight on top of his hand brought Stiles out of his musings and he realized that Malia had placed her hand on top of his. “Can we go to the dance, Stiles?” she asked, giving him a sweet and innocent smile. Stiles couldn’t shake the feeling that it had something predatory. “You and I, I mean. Or do we have to take Derek, too? I mean, now that he sleeps-“   
Stiles brought his lips to Malia’s in one swift motion and silenced her with a long kiss. He intertwined his finger with hers and buried his free hand deeply in her curls. When he broke the kiss, smiling, Malia was breathless and her pupils were blown. Stiles gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Of course we’ll go to the dance. It’s your first dance, right? We couldn’t miss that!” 

The table had grown quiet around them when Stiles looked up and Scott actually had an eyebrow raised and murmured something along the lines of “Dude, gross!” Stiles held back a comment about how much of a hypocrite Scott was being. The crisis had been averted, that was all that matters. He really had to have a word with Malia about their sleeping arrangements and how those were not a topic for public discussion.   
Stiles caught Derek’s eye – he was frowning, Stiles noticed, overjoyed – and winked, hoping Derek would catch the meaning. 

It was Kira who broke the silence by saying “So we’re all going to the dance?” with a face as if there was nothing she dreaded more.   
Scott grinned and replied “Oh yes, and you’re coming with me!” 

Lydia scoffed again. “But tomorrow when there’s no lacrosse practice you’re coming to my house to work on your control. Seriously, I thought we didn’t do dances anymore?!” 

The bell saved Stiles from more explanations, so he just shrugged with what he hoped was an innocent face and left the cafeteria. 

Three hours later Stiles seriously considered quitting the lacrosse team for the third time that week. Even Kira, who had only been practicing with them for two weeks, was better than him. Sure, she was a Kitsune, but why was she even on the team? Or, better question, Stiles chastised himself mentally, why wasn’t there a girls’ team? Kira would get killed in the first game once their enemy team found out she was a girl! 

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked when they exited the locker room and Stiles still looked grumpy. 

Stiles sighed and rand a hand over his face. “It’s nothing.”

“You’re lying.” 

“Don’t do that werewolf mojo-thing!” Stiles hissed, affronted. “It’s really not politely at all, y’know? It’s like sneaking deep into the most private parts of my privacy and…where was I going with this? Anyway, it’s nothing important, it’s just me being petty and jealous because you’re all something and have superpowers and I’m pretty much nothing but plaid and comic book references and that kinda sucks sometimes, but what can I do?” He grinned self-depreciatingly and got into his jeep. 

“At least you’ve got a girlfriend.” Derek offered, shrugging and Stiles was once again amazed by the obliviousness of certain people. Namely Derek, Scott and Malia. How they had even survived up till now was anyone’s guess. 

“That making out in the cafeteria was to save our asses, you know that, right?” Stiles raised his eyebrows and gave Derek a long look. “Cause Malia was about to reveal our nice and cozy snuggling from this morning and we don’t need everyone knowing about that, right? Right, Derek? I dunno if that’s the way you usually behave in a pack or something and frankly I don’t wanna know, because-“

“Stiles, thanks” Derek interrupted him with a smile. “I didn’t think about that. I can be a little…slow sometimes.”

“No kidding, dude! Urgh, and now I gotta go to the dance and with Malia on top of that…”

“I don’t get you two” Derek admitted as Stiles parked the jeep and got a shrug in reply. “That’s fine, man, we don’t even get us. If that makes sense. Oh, hi, Dad!” He waved at the sheriff who was just exiting the house. 

“Hey, kiddos! Everything all right? How was school?” Stiles’ dad greeted them. He was clearly on his way to some restaurant or the like, his usual uniform replaced by dark jeans and a grey dress shirt. 

Stiles raised his eyebrows and laughed. “Off to a date, Sheriff Stilinski?” He whistled under his breath and patted his dad’s shoulder.

Derek grinned as well. “Looking good, sir!” 

The sheriff couldn’t help but blush slightly and start fiddling with his sleeve in a nervous gesture the same way Stiles always did. 

“Stop that, dad, you’re gonna mess up your outfit! Are you finally seeing Melissa? That’s Scott’s mom, by the way, and dad and her have been dancing around each other pretty much since the whole werewolf stuff started, so it’s about time they got official” Stiles explained to Derek with a wink. 

The sheriff just made a strangled sound. 

“So, where are you taking her?” 

“To a nice little restaurant. Italian. Not in Beacon Hills. Don’t even think about following me, I’ll have a deputy watch the house!” Stiles’ dad threatened and Stiles raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. 

“I wouldn’t dare, dad! You and Melissa go out there and have fun, you go and have all the fun, and you’re not allowed back in this house before midnight, you hear me? Yes, you got that right, not before midnight, listen to your son!”

The sheriff just shook his head in exasperation and waved at them as he went to his car. “You boys don’t go to bed too late, you hear me? And do your homework!”

“Yes, sir!” Stiles and Derek called and the sheriff drove off with one last huff. 

They entered the house and Stiles was still smiling happily. His dad had still been wearing his wedding ring, but he seemed genuinely happy about the date and that was fine. It was about time his dad started living for himself again. Stiles thought he deserved all the happiness in the world. 

The decade dance was a week away and it was eleven days until the full moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I just wanna send my love and support to the guys whose fanfictions were ridiculed by the cast during Comic Con. That shit's not cool! You guys keep writing amazing fanfiction!


	10. I'm not dying at school!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, guys! I wanted to make sure this chapter turned out just right, so it took me a little longer. To make up for it, the chapter is also a little longer! 
> 
> Enjoy

The weekend was spent almost entirely at Lydia’s house, Stiles, Derek, Scott, Kira and Malia only left late at night to sleep at their respective places.   
By Sunday there were empty pizza boxes strewn all over the living room floor and Stiles was just making coffee for the fifth time that morning. It would have been an understatement to say they were tired. 

Lydia twirled a matted strand of hair around her finger while suppressing a yawn. She looked beyond exhausted, something that was shared by everyone present. Even Malia looked more than done. 

“Come on, guys! The weekend’s nearly over! And you’ve all made such great progress!” Stiles declared enthusiastically and passed mugs filled with the freshly brewed coffee around. 

“Were you even here, Stiles?” Lydia asked, her voice sounding shrill. 

Scott seemed to be trying to become one with the couch. The bags under his eyes were dark smudges and his usually tanned skin had a sickish pallor to it. He took the coffee with a thankful half-smile and cleared his throat. “I know it’s hard, but we can do it. Together. Malia, you’re making great progress with Stiles there and Derek, I’m sure you’ll find your anchor soon. Just continue looking for it with Kira and Lydia, I know you can do it.” 

Derek nodded curtly and focused on his coffee. He was frustrated, Stiles knew it. The last two nights Derek had been plagued by nightmares again and since he was sleeping in the same bed as Stiles, he hadn’t been able to hide it. They didn’t talk about the nightmares, but Stiles had an idea what they were about. It didn’t take a genius to guess that Derek was scared to lose control and hurt someone after what had happened with Paige. Stiles couldn’t blame him. However the constant nightmares didn’t actually add to the quality of their sleep, meaning that on top of getting only a few hours of sleep, Stiles had been woken up by Derek’s nightmares every hour or so, resulting in both of them being close to collapsing now. 

Yep, surely the best prerequisite for finding an anchor and controlling the shift. They were so screwed. 

“Well, Scott, why don’t you tell Derek about your anchor?” Lydia asked, clearly at the end of her rope. 

Scott looked like a kicked puppy and hesitated. “Why doesn’t Malia explain it to him? I mean, Stiles is your anchor, isn’t he, Malia?” 

“Oh yes, Stiles is the only one I care about!” Malia exclaimed and snuggled closer to Stiles who had sat down next to her. 

This didn’t seem to help Derek very much. “But I care about a lot of people. I care about my family and about you guys and about the guys in my grade and on the lacrosse team and on my basketball team. There’s no one I really care about the most…if anything, it would be my mom, because she’s my alpha, but…” 

Stiles sighed. “Scotty, do something! You’re the alpha!” 

“Okay, okay. I’m gonna go to the basement with Malia to check if she can stay in control without you. You help Lydia and Kira with Derek. Just…do your thing, Stiles, you’re better at this than me” 

“I’m not even a werewolf!” Stiles shouted after Scott, who didn’t turn around though but just went down to the basement with Malia.   
“Oh, great!” Stiles huffed and turned back to the rest. “Okay, Derek…anything you feel strongly about? Like, you like basketball, right?” 

Derek nodded, unsure. 

“Okay, good, perfect. Then you know, the feeling when you’ve just won a game, can you recall that?” 

Derek nodded again.

“Good, very good! Then, can you focus on that feeling? It’s a strong feeling, right? It makes you happy, it makes you feel all good inside? Like, so good that nothing could kill your mood?” By now, Stiles had jumped up, the nervous, jittery energy from too much caffeine and too little sleep paired with undoubtedly a too high amount of Adderall making it impossible to stay seated. 

“I…suppose” Derek murmured. 

Stiles pointed at Derek and waved his arms around. “No, no, no! You don’t suppose! That’s not how this works! You know! You’re feeling like you can do anything!” His eyes were wide and his expression had something manic to it. 

Lydia got up and pressed him firmly back onto the couch. “And you look like you’re about to keen over! In fact, you both do! Did you get even a minute of sleep?” 

Derek glanced at Stiles, obviously not sure what to respond. Stiles thought he looked like a kicked puppy. A very tired kicked puppy.   
In a fit of pity and affection Stiles reached over to Derek to ruffle his hair.   
“No need to look so sour, you’re doing fine, it’s all good, don’t worry” 

Even Kira smiled at Derek encouragingly. “Even if you don’t manage to control yourself – which I don’t think will be the case, of course – but even if you don’t, Scott’s a great alpha, he’ll make sure you don’t hurt anyone. All of us will. After all, we’ve all-“

She was cut off abruptly by the ringing of Lydia’s phone. Stiles winced, but Lydia just yawned and answered it after glancing at the caller ID.   
“Yes? What do you want?” Judging by the utter disgust and contempt in her voice, Stiles thought it was safe to assume she was talking to Peter. She had never quite forgiven him for the whole mind-control-thing. Stiles couldn’t blame her, Peter was a creep.   
“Yes, we are still training! You know, she’s your daughter and that’s not a very nice way to talk about her.” She rolled her eyes and walked towards the kitchen, closing the door after her.

“Malia’s dad?” Derek asked after a moment of silence. He sounded sincere enough, so Stiles silently thanked whoever was responsible for making Derek not recognize his uncle’s voice on he phone. Or for not making werewolf hearing sharp enough. Whatever worked. 

“Urgh, he’s literally the worst!” Stiles said. “A total creep, I can’t stand even being in the same room as him! He freaks me out – he freaks all of us out!” 

Kira nodded and for once, neither Stiles nor Kira were faking anything. Peter was an unstable creep who no one liked having to associate with. Sadly, it wasn’t up to choice. 

“He and Malia are also not on…too good terms, so could you maybe not mention this call to her?” Stiles asked, quietly. They still hadn’t told Malia the truth, but right now there were more pressing issues. 

Lydia returned shortly afterwards, looking even worse than before. She dropped down on an armchair, fuming silently. “I hate this!” she suddenly yelled and everyone jumped. “Why is no one making any progress? We don’t have any clue about what’s wrong with Derek, Malia is not even trying to be civil when you’re not around Stiles, don’t try to deny it, and now Derek can’t find an anchor! This is a nightmare and there’s the dance in five days and I don’t even have a dress, but that seems so shallow in comparison! I hate this!”

“Um, we can go shopping for dresses together, if you’d like” Kira offered hesitantly, trying to calm Lydia down. 

“Right, we do that and then – full moon! At least there’s no hunters in Beacon Hills anymore…you know what, guys?” 

Everyone looked up. Lydia was in a dangerous state of mind and no one wanted to cross her, not even unintentionally. 

“You’re all going home now. No, I don’t wanna hear any excuses, we’re all exhausted and it’s not like anyone can concentrate anyway, so you’re gonna go home and you’re gonna go to bed and sleep. And tomorrow, when everyone’s in their right mind again, we’re gonna try again.” 

“But Lydia!” Derek exclaimed, clearly unhappy. “I didn’t make any progress and there’s school and lacrosse practice and the dance and everything, I can’t afford to sleep now!” 

Stiles felt painfully reminded of himself at the words and put an arm around Derek’s shoulder. “C’mon, you’re no use to us half dead, dude. Maybe things won’t look so glum tomorrow. Don’t beat yourself up about this, it’s not your fault.” 

“Okay, then I’m gonna go downstairs and see if I can help Scott and Malia, bye guys, see you at school.” Kira said and got up. 

Stiles got up as well and pulled Derek with him. “C’mon, Derek! If we don’t leave soon I can’t guarantee anything, Lydia looks like she’s about to skin us, just kidding of course, Lydia, bye!” 

As Derek was being dragged past Lydia she caught his sleeve, looked him straight in the eye and whispered, “Promise me Stiles gets some sleep”. Derek was momentarily taken by surprise but managed to nod before being dragged out of the room. 

Stiles felt like doing something. There was all this pent up nervous energy from all the stimulants as well as the underlying feeling that there had to be something they could do, something they hadn’t thought of, to help Derek and that if he just thought about it for long enough, he’d be able to figure it out. Because that’s what he did, that was his thing, figuring shit out and saving everyone’s asses, except that lately Stiles had done an abysmally bad job at that, resulting in more death and hurt than ever before, but how could he redeem himself if he went to bed now? He needed to help Derek! The pack depended on him, hell, Derek depended on him! 

“Stiles? Stiles, hey!” 

Stiles whipped around at the sound of Derek’s voice. 

“Are you sure you’re good to drive? I can drive, I got my license a couple months ago and I’ll be careful” Derek proposed with a pointed look at Stiles’ ever so slightly trembling hands. 

Oh, hell.   
“I, um, I-I’m fine, seriously, dude, no worries, Stiles is completely okay and good to drive! In a minute you’ll be able to close those tired eyes and no one will bother you until dinner. Sound good? Good!” Stiles rambled on, fumbling with the keys that somehow simply didn’t want to fit into the lock. Or maybe it was just his own fault for not being able to keep his hand still for long enough.   
He promptly dropped the keys and Derek caught them before they hit the ground. 

“Completely okay, yeah?” he just asked, unlocked the door on the driver’s side and got in. 

Stiles stood in front of his car in Lydia’s driveway like an idiot for a few seconds before resigning to his fate and climbing into the passenger seat.   
“Thanks”, he murmured and Derek started the jeep. 

 

Friday arrived faster than either of them would have liked, there hadn’t been any notable progress and they were running out of time and options. And it was the night of the decade dance, the one Stiles had promised Malia they’d go to together. He couldn’t even put the regret for making that promise into words. 

“You’re making a face like it’s the end of the world. You actually have a date, I’m just going with some friends.”

“Well, I’d prefer going with some friends to going with her! She’s been mad at me ever since I started locking the window and tonight I’m gonna be at her mercy and you know girls, girls are scary and she’s scarier than most and she’s also much more than just a simple girl and why did I say yes?” Stiles whined as he buttoned up his shirt. He looked at Derek with desperation in his eyes. “Break my leg”

“Excuse me…?” Derek asked after a startled pause. His eyebrows were drawn and he gave Stiles a seriously concerned look. 

“Yeah, man, don’t you see it? If my leg’s broken, I won’t be able to walk much less dance, so there’d be no use in going to the dance! Genius, right?”

Derek just shook his head exasperatedly. “Yeah, totally. Except for the fact that, oh, I don’t know, your leg will be broken and it will hurt and you don’t heal fast and you’ll be on crutches for weeks” His mouth curled up in a smirk. “And Malia would just come to the hospital and insist on staying with you!”

Stiles groaned in reply and raked a hand through his hair. “You are enjoying my misery, aren’t you? This is all fun to you, huh?”

“Yup”

“Well, it’s no fucking fun for me!” Stiles whined and got up, checking his reflection in the mirror. He wore a white dress shirt and black slacks and thought he looked alright, no need for a vest or a tie. 

Derek grinned at him. “C’mon, time to pick up your date!”

“Urgh, I hate you!” Stiles groaned and followed him out of the door. 

They didn’t actually pick anyone up, but drove to the school after promising the sheriff to have a good time. 

Malia was already waiting in the parking lot that was filled with cars. She was wearing a short white dress with a collar that would have looked innocent on anyone else. On her, it just made her look all the more dangerous. Her hair was straightened – probably done by Lydia – and she wore a thick white headband. 

“Stiles, there you are!” she greeted them and embraced Stiles in a tight hug. Then she moved in for a deep kiss that Stiles managed to avert by petting her hair. 

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting for long, um, you look beautiful!” he countered instead and took her hand. 

Derek raised his eyebrows again and Stiles raised his shoulders in a helpless shrug. 

“Lydia, Scott and Kira have already gone inside, but I wanted to wait for you!” Malia snuggled closer to Stiles and they started walking toward the gym where they dance was taking place. 

The halls were decorated with brightly colored paper chains and there were girls with their hair done up in buns wearing a lot of dark make-up everywhere. Most dresses were shorter than should be allowed at a high school dance, but everyone seemed to be having a great time, so no teacher had intervened yet. It would have been a losing battle anyway, teenage girls in Beacon Hills dressed as they pleased. 

“Hey, Miguel!” A voice suddenly shouted from the gym and a small group of sophomores poured out of the door. 

Derek waved at them. “See you later, Stiles, have fun” He said with a slight smirk and abandoned Stiles, leaving him alone with Malia. Fucking perfect night already.

“So um, you wanna go in?” Stiles asked awkwardly and Malia nodded, clearly excited. 

“I’ve never been to a school dance. Is it like that club in Mexico?”

They approached the door and Stiles chuckled lightly. The music was getting louder. “Nah, not really. It’s a lot tamer here, cause it’s at school. And there’s no alcohol and all that, but a buffet. At least it was there the years before. So, yeah. It’s nothing spectacular, but you should at least have been to one dance to complete your high school experience” He winked at Malia. “Especially since you’ve missed out on so much already”

And that was the truth of it. Malia had already missed out on most of her childhood and teenage years. Who was Stiles to judge her for wanting to go to a stupid dance? He’d agreed on going with her and he’d make sure she’d have fun. He owed her that much at least. And maybe it wouldn’t end up being as much of a disaster as with Lydia. Well, he mused, it couldn’t really get worse than that night. But still, positive thinking and all!

“Coming?” Stiles asked, forcing himself to smile and Malia returned his smile with a big, honest one. 

The gym was decorated much like the hallways. There were colored fairy lights and paper chains and 60s music was blaring loudly. At the far off end the buffet had been set up, a beautiful assortment of fast-food goodies, soda and juice.   
Stiles felt the pull of the buffet and felt compelled to go over there and check for curly fries. 

However something much more physical was pulling him to the dance floor.   
“C’mon, Stiles, I wanna dance!” Malia yelled happily and dragged Stiles right in the center of the dancing teenagers. 

They passed Derek and his friends, but Derek didn’t make any attempts to save Stiles. Traitor.   
He felt himself being spun around on the dance floor not much later, Malia pressing against him. She grinded her body on his and ran her fingertips over his back in a way that was a little - no, actually a lot - too seductive and sexual for a school dance. 

Lydia and Danny who were dancing close by gave Stiles sympathetic looks, but no one intervened. Stiles grew uncomfortable, he could feel people staring now and it didn’t seem as if Malia was inclined to let him go anytime soon. If Malia continued at this speed, he’d have to drag her to a toilet stalls sooner rather than later. Something which he’d like to avoid at all cost. 

Stiles spotted Derek again, laughing with his friends, and gave him a look that hopefully spelled ‘Save me!!!’. 

Apparently it did, because the next second Derek excused himself from his group and went over to Stiles and Malia. Once he was behind them Derek mouthed ‘What am I supposed to do?’ at Stiles who nudged his head signaling toward the buffet table.   
Derek nodded in understanding and Stiles gave him a thumbs-up.

“Hey Stiles!” he half-shouted over the music and Stiles let go of Malia slowly. “Wanna go grab some food? My, uh, my friends ditched me” 

Stiles tried to get some distance between Malia and himself and replied. “Oh, man, I’d love to, I’m starving! That okay with you, Malia? I’ll just be a moment”

Malia looked kind of dazed from the dancing. Her eyes darted between Derek and Stiles for a second and then she just shrugged. “Yeah, sure, I’ll just be here, dancing” With that she turned around and went over to a senior who had been watching her dance for a while and a moment later they were dancing. 

Stiles heaved a sigh of relief and clasped an arm over Derek’s shoulder.   
“Thanks, man, you seriously saved my ass! She’s like…like…a succubus! It’s horrible!” 

“Yeah, it looked like she was about to tear your shirt off or something” Derek agreed and Stiles could only nod. 

“Hey, wanna check out the buffet? Now that I told Malia we’d grab something to eat we might as well check it out, right? Maybe there’s curly fries there!” Stiles pulled Derek with him, holding his wrist so they wouldn’t get separated in the crowd. 

There was everything an American teenager could possibly wish for on the table: doritos, cup cakes, a large variety of chocolate bars, gummy bears and even a cooler with ice cream in it. And there at the very end of the table Stiles spotted them: the curly fries!

“Dude, look! They really got curly fries! We gotta secure the whole bowl, c’mon!” 

After they had snatched the bowl from the table Derek and Stiles sat down on the floor. Several students were already sitting there, eating, chatting and resting sore feet. 

After eating a mouthful of fries Stiles turned to Derek. “Seriously though, dude. Thank you for helping me out. And sorry for keeping you from your friends, I guess…you can go back to them if you want, I’ll be fine, just gonna hide here for the rest of the night.”

“I don’t mind” Derek murmured earnestly. “You’re helping me out all the time and you never complain, so…”

“Derek, no! You don’t have to feel like you owe me anything, that’s not how this works! I’m helping you cause I want to, not cause I wanna be able to call in favors or something. All of us, we just wanna help you get your memory back because you’re our friend, not because we have to”

“I know that!” Derek yelled. Several heads turned and Derek bowed his head, continuing in a quieter tone of voice. “I know that! And I, I guess I just wanna say thank you. For letting me stay at your place and, um the bed thing, and for helping with the shift. And my homework, really, thanks for helping me with that!” He added like an afterthought with a grin on his face. 

Stiles just shook his head and grinned in the general direction of the floor. 

“You’ll be fine, Derek, we’ll find your anchor” Stiles murmured reassuringly and for the first time felt that he really meant it.   
Apparently Derek had noticed as well, since he raised his head and looked at Stiles, a quizzical expression on his face.   
And in that moment Stiles realized that he needed Derek. At some point while getting to know his true self, Stiles had noticed that he actually genuinely liked Derek and that there was more to him than his sour façade. There was a person under the stoic face, someone with hopes and dreams and fears and a personality. Someone who understood Stiles.   
Stiles noticed the way his heartbeat quickened and his breathing got ragged. He kept his eyes firmly on the floor. What was happening? He felt compelled to look up, to look at Derek and it took all his determination to keep staring at the ground.   
Then all of a sudden he felt a timid touch on his hand and his head snapped up, his eyes meeting Derek’s instantly. They were wide and blue and glowing and had something feral, but when Derek closed his hand around Stiles’ it was shy and careful and soft and completely devoid of claws.   
Stiles gasped as Derek leaned forward. Somewhere in the back of his head a voice told him he was supposed to close his eyes, but he was captivated and couldn’t help staring into Derek’s blue eyes.   
Their lips met and Derek’s eyes stopped glowing, returned to their usual grey color and then closed completely. Stiles leaned into the kiss and Derek’s grip on his hand got harder. Derek’s lips were hot and Stiles felt as if he was on fire. 

He intertwined his fingers with Derek’s and kissed back, fiercely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...um, what do you think? Was it okay? Too soon? Too random? Some feedback would be lovely because I honestly don't know how to feel about the scene...


	11. What the hell are we doing here anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so sorry for the long delay! There's really no excuse, but please forgive me! 
> 
> I also wanna thank you for the great feedback :) I'm glad you liked the kiss, I wasn't sure if it was too early. 
> 
> This chapter is rather short, but the next update won't take several weeks, I promise ;)

When Stiles and Derek broke apart, Stiles’ heart was hammering away in his chest. It was hammering so fast that it actually hurt and Stiles couldn’t breathe and surely Derek had to be hearing his heartbeat because it was just so loud! Several moments passed before Stiles inhaled shakily, heart still racing, and opened his eyes to look at Derek. 

Derek looked flushed, about as badly as Stiles himself, and his lips were red and swollen and Stiles couldn’t help but stare at them. 

Then Derek got up, abruptly, an expression of shock and confusion and bewilderment and bemusement and horror and realization and euphoria all mingled in one on his face (or maybe Stiles was just imagining things) and promptly fled the gym. His eyes flickered blue once, but nothing else happened and the next moment he was gone. 

Stiles felt numb. He had just made out with Derek Hale. In the gym. At school. During the decade dance. 

“Oh my God” he whispered as the reality of the situation slowly sank in. “Oh my God!” 

Then someone slumped down on the floor next to him and Stiles jumped backwards. 

“Easy, Stilinski, it’s just me!” Danny put his hands up, an amused smile playing around his lips. 

Stiles relaxed visibly and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Jesus, Danny! You scared the crap out of me…” he sighed and Danny chuckled. 

“So…you and your…cousin Miguel, huh?” he asked sounding a bit scornful, but there didn’t seem to be a mean intend. So, Danny had seen them. And most likely he wasn’t the only one. But as far as Stiles could tell, no one was staring at him too obviously.

“Not helping, man, I’m having a little freak-out here! Oh my God, we just- we really…we…we kissed, didn’t we?” Stiles looked at Danny for confirmation. 

“Looked like it to me, yeah” Danny nodded and Stiles exhaled slowly.   
“All these times you asked me if you were attractive to guys and now I find out there was actually a reason for that…” Danny mused.

Stiles looked even more struck than before. “Oh my God, I-I really did that, didn’t I?”

Danny nodded again. “You’re only realizing it now? Are you feeling okay, Stilinski?” He put a hand on Stiles’ shoulder. 

“What? No! No, God, of course I’m not! I just made out with Derek Hale at a stupid school dance and I liked it! And now he’s gone! What am I supposed to do now?” To his own horror Stiles noticed that his voice was shaking and he felt like a middle school kid after his first kiss. Well. That wasn’t actually too far from the truth. Argh, not helping! 

There was a pause before Danny answered, confusion obvious in his voice. “Did you say Derek Hale? Miguel is Derek Hale?” 

“Yeah, it’s 16-year-old Derek, there’s a backstory, just…” Stiles looked up just as Malia looked at the buffet. Their eyes didn’t meet, but it was close.   
“Shit! Malia!” He exclaimed. “She’s already jealous of Derek, oh shit, shit!” 

Danny got up again and offered Stiles a hand. He took it and was pulled up. “Anyone can see that you’re not happy in that relationship” Danny said quietly, “and Derek Hale, at least the one I know, the one that’s all brooding and bearded and muscular, is quite a catch!” He winked at Stiles. “Try not to freak out too much, Stiles!” Then he went off toward the buffet.

The fact that nothing of this freaked Danny out caused Stiles to freak out even more. What was he supposed to do now? Go after Derek? Go back to Malia? Go home? Go hide in the locker room and brood silently? Yeah, right, as if such a thing was possible. There was no silent brooding in the life of Stiles Stilinski, the one doing the brooding was…Derek. Oh God, it came all back to Derek! Derek, who was currently living with him. Derek, who was a teenager. Derek, who couldn’t control the shift. Derek, who was a scary werewolf – usually. Derek, who usually didn’t even like Stiles, who thought Stiles was annoying and a spaz and…Derek. Derek who had been used and abused so many times. But most of all Derek who was a fucking 16-year-old with no memories right now! 

Stiles hadn’t noticed that he was moving until he collided with someone – Scott. 

“Whoa, hey, Stiles, you okay?” Scott asked as he steadied Stiles. 

Brilliant. Perfect! Just what he needed now.

“Yeah, sure, sorry, Scott. I just, all the people, y’know?” 

Scott let go of Stiles’ shoulder and eyed him worriedly. “Stiles, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” He asked again after taking in Stiles flushed, nervous form. He probably even heard his way-too-fast heartbeat, Stiles thought. 

“Nope, nothing happened, everything’s fine!” Stiles exclaimed, also too fast, well knowing that Scott knew that he was lying. 

“Dude, your heart’s racing, you’re sweating and your scent is all wrong! What happened?” As expected, Scott didn’t just let it go. 

“Can you just go over there if you’re not dancing?” a nearby dancing sophomore girl cut in and Stiles used the opportunity to advance toward the exit. “It’s really nothing, Scott, don’t worry!” he shouted over his shoulder and fought his way to the crowd. Luckily he even managed to avoid Malia who was dancing with Kira. Unnoticed, Stiles slipped out of the building.

When Stiles got to the parking lot he wasn’t surprised to find it empty. It was still fairly early and the students were inside, dancing.   
He walked the short distance to his jeep. Derek was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t come as a surprise to Stiles either. He hadn’t expected him to be waiting. The guy was a werewolf, he was probably running through the forest, howling at the not-really full moon and finding an outlet for his emotions. Derek seemed like a guy who did those sorta things.  
But Stiles didn’t, so he started the jeep and drove the fastest way home. There was nothing to gain from wasting gas on aimlessly driving around, after all. 

The house was dark and empty when he arrived and Stiles suspected his dad had gone on a secret date with Melissa since he and Scott were busy for the evening. It was a good plan. Stiles hoped this thing between his dad and Melissa would work out, they both deserved it. 

He sighed loudly and walked into the kitchen. There he poured himself a glass of water and sat down at the table, placing his head on it with a loud ‘klonk’. His life was a mess. Just as he had realized that Derek was a decent guy and that they could very well be friend the guy had kissed him! Or had Stiles kissed Derek? Who had kissed whom there? Stiles groaned, head still resting on the table. It didn’t matter who had initiated the kiss, they’d both gone through with it. Stiles Stilinski and Derek Hale. But that was ridiculous! It was, wasn’t it? 

Stiles downed his water and looked around the kitchen aimlessly. It was spotless, or at least as close to spotless as anything in this house ever was. Seemed as if his dad had taken the time to clean. 

His dad. Oh God. Nope, there was no need of his dad finding him in the kitchen sulking all by himself. He’d ask how his evening had been, if things hadn’t worked out with Malia and if there was any way he could help. But there wasn’t and the last thing Stiles needed now was to discuss sexuality with his dad. 

So he turned off the lights again and went upstairs to his room. In which the lights were on. The door was open and Stiles saw Derek lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. Um. Fuck. No, no, that was actually good. At least he hadn’t run off completely or gotten himself hurt or anything. But now Stiles couldn’t think. Now Stiles had to share a bed with him. Oh God, how was he supposed to get any sleep? But if he didn’t sleep in his bed Derek wouldn’t get any sleep.   
What the fuck was he supposed to do? 

“You can come in, y’know? I mean, it is your room…” Derek murmured so quietly that Stiles had trouble making out the words. Blushing he entered his room and closed the door. Well, this was taking awkwardness to a whole new level. 

“Derek! You, um, you run off suddenly!” Stiles exclaimed and instantly felt like hitting himself. Derek knew that, he’d been the one to run off after all! “No, shit, I mean, are you okay?” Stiles decided to not make the situation any more awkward by standing in the middle of the room and sat down on the bed. He couldn’t bring himself to face Derek, though, so he just stared at the floor. 

Derek seemed to be radiating awkwardness, just like Stiles. He shifted around in the bed for a few moments, fiddling with the blanket before answering. “No, I’m okay. Are you?” 

Stiles would have nearly laughed out loud. Instead he just replied as calmly as possible. “Yeah, sure, I’m good.” 

“That’s…good.” Derek said lamely and Stiles nodded. “Yeah, um, good night then, I guess?” “Good night, Stiles.” 

Awesome. They were never gonna talk about this. If there were two people who could keep not addressing something for a prolonged period of time it were Derek and Stiles. They wouldn’t talk about it and silently go mad, both of them. All because they were probably the most awkward dorks on the planet.   
Really fucking beautiful, that whole situation. 

Stiles changed into shorts and a shirt and lay down next to Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Next chapter: full moon!


	12. I will never abandon this jeep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I don't know what happened. This chapter wasn't supposed to turn out this way. But my hands were faster than my head and I just...I don't even write explicit content, usually!

As expected the weekend had been tense and awkward. Stiles and Derek had danced around the issue and around themselves, trying everything as a distraction, even homework. 

By Sunday evening both of them were completely drained. They were just having dinner, some salad because even though Stiles was preoccupied he didn’t forget about preparing healthy food, when the sheriff finally addressed the situation. 

“Okay, pals, spill!” he ordered with a stern face.

Derek’s gaze flickered to Stiles and Stiles shook his head ever so slightly before turning to his dad, eyes wide and innocent. It didn’t really come as a surprise that the sheriff would ask if anything had happened, not with the way Derek and Stiles had been behaving since the dance. Stiles was actually surprised that he hadn’t asked earlier. Which didn’t mean that he was about to tell his dad everything about that evening, oh no, sir, no. He loved his dad dearly but there were some things…nope. The sheriff wouldn’t even want to know. 

“The two of you have been strange ever since the dance, don’t think I didn’t notice, I’m the sheriff, kiddos. So. What happened?” 

In a split second Stiles decided to just go with being an embarrassed teenager. If he could convince his dad that something stupid and awkward had happened, maybe his dad would back off. He just had to make sure the sheriff knew that Derek and him weren’t involved in anything dangerous. Oh God. Derek and him weren’t involved in anything, period! There was no Derek and him, not really, and it would stay that way. 

A flush spread over Stiles’ cheeks and he deliberately looked everywhere but at his dad. He opened his mouth to speak and, seemingly struggling for words, closed it again. 

“You know you can tell me anything, right, Stiles? Even if you guys happened to, hell, I don’t know, smash a window in or something. I won’t be mad. Okay, I might be mad if I have to pay for a window, but I won’t be mad for long.” The sheriff gave Stiles an encouraging smile and Stiles sighed. 

“We didn’t destroy anything, dad. It’s just that, uh, some stuff happened and I’d really rather you didn’t know about it, because there were enough people to witness it already and that wasn’t cool and can’t a guy have some privacy, I mean, it’s not like I did anything dangerous, I went to a school dance, and something potentially very awkward happened and now I might be terrified to go back to school because who knows how fast word travels in Beacon Hills and it’s really at least as much Malia’s fault as mine and please don’t look at me like that, dad, I know that a breakup in front of basically the whole school is horrible, but really, ask Derek, she was practically eating me alive in front of everyone, even the teachers, and oh my God, now I’ve told you, please forget everything I said, dad, and don’t you dare ask questions!” 

Silence. Then: “You broke up with Malia?” 

Stiles stared at the table and made a miserable noise, something between a whine and a groan. Then he heard Derek’s voice, hushed. “Don’t make him tell you more about it, sir, it was really messy.” 

A wave of newfound appreciation for Derek rushed through Stiles and he lifted his head catching Derek’s eye in the process and giving him a small smile. 

“It was awkward as fuck, dad! My social life is over! Now that I’ve finally managed to get some standing with the cool, supernatural kids!”

“Oh Stiles, it’s not like Scott and the rest of your friends will abandon you now. Things will be a bit tense in your group for a while, but you’re teenagers, breaking up is what you do, you’re only trying out relationships. I know she was your first girlfriend, but she won’t be your last, don’t worry.” 

His dad’s word caused Stiles to instantly feel guilty. After all, he hadn’t really broken up with Malia. He was still stuck and that god-awful relationship. And there was still Derek to worry about…

Stiles groaned in all earnest and got up. “I’m gonna go upstairs, finish my homework, wallow in self-pity, that kinda thing. You coming, Derek?” 

Derek nodded and jumped up as well, leaving the sheriff alone with the dishes.   
“Oh great, boys, thank you! Thank you very much!” he shouted after them, but Stiles and Derek had already disappeared upstairs. 

Stiles pushed Derek into his room and motioned to his bed. “Take a seat” he murmured and ran a hand across his face. “To think that I promised dad I’d be honest with him from now on…”

“That was really good lying. Even I couldn’t tell that you weren’t telling the truth.” Derek acknowledged and Stiles looked up, intrigued. “Really? Now that’s a handy skill. Slightly scary that my super power seems to be lying, but I’ll take whatever I can get.” 

He fell down on the bed next to Derek and sighed.   
“So. Full moon tomorrow.”  
“Mhm.”  
“And we still haven’t found an anchor for you.”  
“Mhm.”  
“So you can’t control your werewolf powers.”  
“Mhm.”  
“And we kissed at the dance.”

There was a deep intake of breath from Derek and Stiles sat up. 

“Yeah, well, dude, we kinda did…” he said without looking at Derek. It was the truth though and there was nothing they could do about it now. How do you take back a kiss? Stiles had avoided asking himself the question if he would want to take it back. He didn’t wanna think about it. But it seemed as if he had to, what with the whole living together and imminent full moon and Derek being insecure and scared enough as it was and really what had they been thinking? Why would Derek fucking Hale kiss Stiles Stilinski? In what kind of universe did such a thing happen? 

“Is Malia really your first girlfriend?”

Stiles was completely caught off-guard by the question and stopped his inner ramblings. “What?” 

“Your dad said that Malia was your first girlfriend earlier. Uh. That true?”

“Dude, what the fuck? Why do you wanna discuss Malia now? Don’t we have enough problems already?” Stiles groaned, but Derek wouldn’t let it go. 

“So you haven’t…with anyone else? Y’know, like…only Malia?”

“Oh my God, Derek! What do you want me to say?” Stiles practically shouted. “No, I’ve never been really…intimate with anyone but Malia and my hand and the only people who’ve ever slept in this bed beside me are you and Malia! I’ve got no experience with this whatsoever, literally, none! Girls used to ignore me; I spent half my life running after Lydia and she didn’t even know my name until her ex turned into a kanima and her banshee powers awakened. And no, I definitely don’t know anything about guys! I mean, I’m a guy myself but other than that…I’ve been trying to talk to Danny for years, but he never really reacted, so, sorry Derek, but I’ve got no fucking clue! About anything!” 

He realized that he had maybe said just a tiny bit too much, but it was done now and he was not about to take it back. It was the truth and there was really no use in hiding it, Derek would find out either way. Nevertheless, Stiles couldn’t help but be scared of his reaction. 

“Um. So, um, I mean…” Derek sighed, obviously struggling for words. “We’re okay? You’re not…I dunno, mad? Grossed out? About to throw me out?” The last was said half-jokingly and Stiles managed a tired smile.   
“Nah, dude, we’re good. We’re also very sleep-deprived and while I’m sure this could turn into a thrilling conversation, I’d rather postpone it. Just for like two days, for when we’ve got time, okay?”   
Derek nodded diligently and Stiles’ smile grew wider.   
“Good. Awesome. But for now we’re good, so neither of us gets to worry about shit. Deal?”   
“Deal.” Derek agreed and Stiles felt relief wash over him. Spending the better part of the weekend in a ball of tension, nerves, anxiety, insecurity, guilt and shock had taken its toll on him and he felt more exhausted than after pulling all these all-nighters at Lydia’s house the week before. 

He swiftly changed out of his jeans and after brushing their teeth in silence Stiles and Derek snuggled under the covers in Stiles’ bed. Stiles repeated “neither of us gets to worry about shit” in his head like a mantra and eventually managed to fall asleep, worried. 

 

Surprisingly, Stiles felt better the next day. It was the day of the full moon and yet he wasn’t nearly as worried as the days before. A quick glance at Derek confirmed that he didn’t seem as anxious as anticipated either. Was this possibly the product of their not-quite talk the night before? 

When they got into the jeep there was no underlying tension and for the first time in weeks Stiles actually didn’t feel annoyed. He also felt strangely well-rested, something he hadn’t experienced since the whole Nemeton-business. 

“You’ve got the phone Scott gave you, right?” he asked. Derek nodded. “Okay, good. If you’re feeling shifty at all, shoot me a text, alright? Hell, call me if it’s really bad, I don’t care. I’ll coming running to your side and I’ll kiss away the pain and everything, God, sorry, Derek, what I mean is, just say the word and I’ll help you. You absolutely don’t have to do this alone, I’ve helped Scott and Malia control the shift, kinda, so I’m sure I’ll be able to help you. And just…even if you don’t feel like you’re about to shift, you can still text me. Like, if you’re bored or something.” Stiles felt his face heat up and he bit on his lower lip. “I should probably just stop talking now” he mumbled, shooting Derek a sideway glance. 

“Thanks, Stiles. Really.”

“Aw shit, is this the part where we get all sentimental and tell each other how much the other means to us? Because dude, I can totally do you.”

Derek’s eyes widened a fraction and Stiles felt all the blood rush from his face as he realized what he had just said. He stopped the jeep by the roadside before he got the chance to cause an accident. Thankfully this part of town was deserted in the morning. “I-I meant that- I, I can totally do that! Not you, that! Because you mean a lot to me, because you’re a likeable guy and just, I’m sorry! It’s not like I’m thinking about doing you ever since that kiss, except I really totally am and now I broke my own promise of not talking about Friday night, but it’s the only thing I can think about and seriously, you sleeping next to me didn’t help at all, dude! Oh my God, I’m so sorry, you didn’t wanna hear that, I know, and now there’s the full moon tonight and-“ 

Stiles was harshly cut off by Derek grabbing his collar and pulling Stiles towards him in one swift motion. Then he placed his lips on Stiles’. It shut Stiles up all right and a moment later he leaned into the kiss with his whole body, burying his hands in Derek’s hair. They deepened the kiss and it felt so good, better than any kiss before and suddenly Stiles felt the need to feel even more of Derek, to touch Derek. Kissing him was all sorts of awesome, but Stiles’ thoughts inevitably drifted to the nights they spent next to each other, always wearing at least a shirt and boxers. His hands found Derek’s shirt and after some fumbling he managed to pull it over his head. A fine layer of sweat already covered Derek’s body and he was huffing. Stiles ran his hands all over Derek’s shoulders, along his collarbones and down to his muscular stomach. Before he reached Derek’s jeans, his hands were captured by Derek who held them over Stiles’ head with one hand while kissing him ferociously. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice screamed “This is the part where he bangs your head into the steering wheel!”, but he pointedly chose to ignore it. Fangs pierced through Stiles’ lower lip and he could taste blood, but Derek was pulling his shirt over his head with his free hand and Stiles didn’t feel like complaining. He moaned as Derek broke the kiss to throw the shirt to the backseat and Stiles focused all his attention on getting the jeans off of Derek. He opened the button and unzipped the pants, but since Derek was sitting on them, he couldn’t pull them down.   
“Ngh, Derek, move!” he panted, breathless, and Derek slid off the seat as far as he could. Stiles hooked his fingers in Derek’s belt loops and pulled the jeans down to his ankles. Derek moaned loudly and embraced Stiles, sucking at his neck. Stiles sighed into Derek’s hair, his own jeans feeling too tight, making him ache all over. “Derek, Derek I need-!” he groaned and Derek let go of Stiles’ neck, biting down once, before looking him over with half-lidded eyes. He gave Stiles a lazy grin and leaned forward, pushing him against the door. Then he trailed his fingers over Stiles’ jeans, putting just the tiniest amount of pressure over his obvious erection causing him to moan loudly. He stroked slowly, up and down, until Stiles’ moan turned into a whine. “Derek, please!” he ground out urgently and Derek laughed breezily before finally freeing him from his jeans. Stiles’ breath hitched in his throat, but Derek leaned into him and kissed him again, deeply, fangs showing. Stiles thought it was the hottest thing. There was a persistent part of him that whispered, “This is going too fast, way too fast and won’t end well”, but Stiles fought it down. Derek was almost completely naked! In his jeep! He let his hands wander further down Derek’s body while at the same time returning the kiss, pouring every bit of emotion in it. He felt Derek take a sharp intake of breath as he closed his hand around his cock, only thin boxers separating him from Derek’s hard-on. Moving his hand along the shaft Stiles noticed the boxers were beginning to feel damp, so he pulled them down and focused completely on Derek’s cock, his own twitching painfully, neglected. It didn’t take long until Derek started moaning, his breathing getting heavier. He trailed kisses along Stiles’ collarbones. Each one felt hot against his skin. He moaned and focused on Derek again, pumping faster now. Derek panted with each stroke, his face flushed and sweaty. It sounded as if he wanted to say something, but Stiles didn’t stop and finally Derek let out a muffed scream he only managed to bite back halfway through. He was breathing heavily and it took him some time to compose himself. His body radiated heat and Stiles couldn’t stop staring at him, wishing to remember every little detail. Derek was beautiful.

“That was…good” Derek sighed after a few seconds. He looked more relaxed than Stiles had ever seen him, both normal and teen Derek. And he looked that way because of Stiles. He gave him a chaste kiss and motioned at the glove compartment. “There’s tissues in there.” Derek didn’t seem to understand at first but then he looked down on Stiles’ hands and comprehension dawned on his face. He flushed even more and reached over into the compartment, pulling out a handful of tissues. He handed Stiles some and began cleaning himself up.   
Watching Derek’s hand working along his muscular thighs didn’t help Stiles’ erection. It flared to life anew, and Stiles couldn’t help but moan, simply from watching Derek. The noise made Derek look up, first in confusion but then understanding. He blushed an even deeper red. “I’m so sorry, Stiles, I just…kinda forgot.” he admitted and Stiles felt giddy with happiness. He gave Derek a possibly very loopy grin and murmured, “Touch me?” Derek hastily complied and breathed “Oh God, yes!” against Stiles neck and pulled the boxers down. Then he started twirling the tip of Stiles’ cock, which was already wet, making him moan even louder, before slowly stroking downwards. Stiles tilted his head back, resting it against the window, and closed his eyes, all thoughts for once stopped. But then Derek stopped and he flicked his eyes open, obviously hurting. Derek looked at him, face flushed and eyes glowing, and whispered, “Do you…do you mind if I” he licked his lips and stared down at Stiles’ cock, “…witch my mouth?” The thought alone was nearly enough to send Stiles over the edge and he could only groan in response. Derek seemed to understand, though, and a moment later Stiles felt the most overwhelming sensation. Derek’s mouth was warm and wet and he closed his lips around his cock, taking it all in. Then he started running his tongue along the shaft, up and down, before beginning to suck in earnest, using just the right amount of pressure. Stiles dug his hands deep into Derek’s hair, clinging to it desperately. He knew he wouldn’t last long, it was getting increasingly difficult to catch a breath and it was Derek down there and it was just so much better than he’d ever imagined. He was close now and all thoughts were gone, but somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he should warn Derek. It was just getting so damn hard to concentrate with all the wetness and warmth and “Derek! Derek…I’m gonna-!” Stiles bit down on his bottom lip as Derek pulled back. Then he came and it was violent and fast and felt like an explosion, only a good one and even biting on his lip couldn’t stop Stiles from crying out and yanking at Derek’s hair. And then it was over and he let out one long, content sigh. “Wow”, he murmured, his lips curling into a smile, and he could hear Derek chuckle. “That was…something else. That was good.” He opened his eyes lazily and felt a rush of happiness at the sight of Derek, naked, flushed and exhausted, in his jeep, grinning and nodding in response.   
“Man, I’ve always wanted to do it in the jeep…” Stiles admitted quietly and started stroking Derek’s stomach lightly. “It’s a fine car”, Derek replied, causing Stiles to laugh. “It’s no Camaro, but what can you do? Hand me a tissue?” he asked and cleaned himself up with one hand, still caressing Derek’s stomach with the other. Derek shifted and placed his head in Stiles lap and Stiles let his hands wander all over his body, causing his breathing to even out. A few moments later, Derek was snoring softly and Stiles closed his eyes as well.   
If simply speaking his mind without using any brain-to-mouth filters led to this, he should consider doing it more often. At least when Derek was around.

Derek, who was sleeping so peacefully on top of Stiles’ body. Derek, who…oh God, what had he done? Stiles stared down at Derek’s body again and he felt like the hormone-induced haze was lifted and his ability to think straight returned. It wasn’t pleasant. Stiles had to fight down a very real wave of panic and he felt close to tears. This was not what he had wanted, this was too much too soon, this was just like Kate and Jennifer, using Derek and lying to him and using sex to earn his trust. He was just as dirty as these bitches and Derek deserved so much better. Once he got to know the truth –and he would, Stiles simply knew it, these things had a habit of turning out badly – he would no doubt hate him. Stiles had been lying to him since day one; he had kept stuff from Derek and told him weak half-truths all the while being an irritating, grumpy little fuck and just generally not very nice. And Derek hadn’t complained even once, but instead they’d gotten closer and now Stiles just had to ruin it all! Why could he never think before he opened his goddamn mouth? It was all completely his fault. If Derek ended up hating him for real, there was no one to blame. Stiles felt like he was about to be sick but he remained in his position, not wanting to wake Derek up on top of everything. The panic was still there, bubbling just underneath the surface and Stiles tried to take deep, calming breaths. 

Then his phone rang and he winced, badly. “Jesus!” he exclaimed and Derek’s eyes snapped open and he sat up immediately. Stiles looked around frantically and finally found his jeans, lying discarded on the backseat. ”Fucking hell, who’s calling at a time like this?” he grumbled, still shaken, and climbed to the backseat to answer it. 

“Dude! Where are you?” It was Scott. Oblivious little Scotty. Stiles heaved a huge sigh. “You said I could copy your history homework and like, that’s a whole essay, isn’t it? Class starts in ten minutes!” “’m sorry, Scott, we’re on our way. See you there, no driving and using the phone, you know how it is, bye!”   
Stiles buried his head in his hands. 

“What’s wrong?” Derek called from the passenger seat. He had taken the time to get dressed but looked still deliciously disheveled, his clothes all rumpled, his hair a mess and his lips…Stiles stopped his train of thoughts before he could end up there again.   
“It’s a school day. I want to take a shower. Scott wants to copy my homework.” He ran a hand through his hair and started dressing as well. Everything felt all sweaty and sticky and gross and he felt miserable and guilty and like the worst person on the planet. 

“It’s a…oh shit, you’re right. And it’s late.” Derek grinned stupidly at Stiles. “And I don’t care!” He looked so utterly happy and pleased with himself that Stiles instantly felt like the lowest of the low, like some sort of foul insect, a mosquito that sucked the happiness out of people and made them do things against their principles.   
“Stiles, are you alright?” Derek asked sounding worried this time. Stiles climbed to the front and felt the strong urge just to tell Derek about everything. Who he was, what had happened, about Kate and his family and just everything. But it was the night of the full moon and Beacon Hills didn’t need another rogue werewolf on the loose. So he just closed his eyes, took another breath that did nothing to calm him, and murmured, “This is going too fast. I- don’t get me wrong, it was, it was awesome, I’ve never…but…we only kissed Friday night and now it’s not even three days later and we already did…not that it wasn’t good, it was great…but just…” His hands clenched the steering wheel tightly. 

“So you…you wanna be with me?” Derek asked timidly after it was obvious that Stiles didn’t know how to continue. He whipped around and looked at Derek, who wore a painfully hopeful expression on his face. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. “Yeah, I-I guess. I mean, we were just getting to know each other and that was nice, really, the fact that someone’s interested in me for a change although I’m really the most unspectacular guy in all of Beacon Hills, and just talking about stuff that we like and doing homework together and just, it was all so normal and believe it or not, I need a little normal once in a while, just a little, so that I know it’s all still okay on some level and I’m rambling again, aren’t I? Goddammit!” He felt like punching the steering wheel. This conversation was turning pathetic.   
“Normal would be nice” Derek replied with a smile and Stiles’ eyebrows shot up. “Doing things like going to the movies and grabbing some food and just that stuff that couples do. As…as dates, y’know?” He blushed slightly and managed to make Stiles feel even worse about himself. Derek wanted a relationship. An honest to God relationship with Stiles of all people. And he was looking at him, all happy with big puppy dog eyes and Stiles felt himself nodding and saying, “We can do that. We can try, at least.”   
He was so screwed. 

He started the jeep, his thoughts in a loop, while Derek chatted happily about where they should go first, should they maybe check out some colleges in the area together or how about a trip to the beach, had Stiles ever been to the beach and did he get sunstroke easily, so maybe a movie really was better or was it too boring? Stiles made what he hoped were appropriate noises at the right times while his thoughts raced. He couldn’t go to school like this, he was a wreck. And he needed a shower, desperately. And Scott, oh God, Scott would probably smell Derek all over him and question him all day long and want him to come up with a plan for the full moon and he couldn’t, he just couldn’t handle any of this right now. 

Beacon Hills High School appeared in front of them just as Derek concluded, “…so I think you’re my anchor!” Stiles would have nearly stalled the jeep. “WHAT?” he spluttered and stared at Derek, incredulous. Derek just smiled happily and repeated “I feel save around you, calm. It’s like I can really be myself when you’re there, even when there’s a full moon.” He turned and kissed Stiles on the lips. Stiles let it happen, dazed. “Thank you. You said you’d find my anchor and you did! Really, thank you, Stiles!” Stiles just nodded, dumbfounded. They had sex in the jeep and suddenly he was Derek’s anchor? Objectively speaking, he knew this was a good thing, but the implication made his stomach clench even worse. 

He turned into the parking lot and saw Scott already standing there and radiating impatience. A quick glance at the radio told him class would start in five minutes. “I’ll see you after class, okay dude?” he asked Derek, well aware that Scott could hear every word. Derek seemed to understand. “Yeah, see you later Stiles.” “Take care, no wolfing out!” Derek grinned and jumped out of the car, shouting a “Good morning!” to Scott before sprinting to his classroom. 

Stiles sighed wearily and climbed out of the car, his backpack in hand. “Morning, Scott” he murmured and started fumbling through the backpack.   
“What happened, man? Where’ve you been?” Oh nothing happened, Derek and I just exchanged bodily fluids in my jeep, Stiles thought. “And why do you smell like that? No offense, dude, but you reek!”   
Anger flared up in Stiles and he practically hit Scott in the chest with his history homework. He couldn’t think of any stupid, half-assed explanation for his state and he was very close to snapping. He had to get away. Now. “I can’t deal with this shit right now, Scott!” he shouted, “Here, take my homework, I don’t care! I’m leaving!” With that, he got back into the jeep and drove off. 

He wanted to go home, take a shower, have a good cry and sleep for a week. But his dad was at home and he’d ask why Stiles was not at school and he’d have to lie again and he was so sick and tired of lying and it wasn’t fair! He cared about Derek, he really did! In a good way, he wasn’t like Kate or Jennifer, he liked Derek because he was Derek. But if Derek found out about the lies, he’d think Stiles had just wanted to use him, just like everyone else always did. But he didn’t! He simply hadn’t been thinking straight, but really, when was he ever thinking straight? Especially when Derek was involved? And when had he accepted that he liked Derek Hale anyway? That he liked him more than a bit, more than friends do, more than he liked Malia and more than he’d liked Lydia? Because this was scary and why the fuck had he driven to the Hale house? What the fuck was wrong with him, this didn’t make things any better! Creeping around the guy’s dead family’s house was pretty inconspicuous indeed and not morally ambiguous at all. Fuck.   
This was not cool on so many levels. He was supposed to be happy, elated, just like Derek. They’d had sex or well, at least gotten each other off and seen each other naked, so it counted, at least in Stiles’ eyes, and it had been good and Stiles had dreamed about it so many times and they had even found Derek’s anchor and it was Stiles, so there was no problem with it being a full moon and no one would die that night and Stiles being the anchor was a huge thing but he wasn’t allowed to feel happy about it, he wasn’t able to feel even remotely good about it because the guilt was everywhere and it cancelled out anything good. Stiles was a horrible person.

His phone beeped. Lydia had sent a text saying, “Where are you? Scott said you ran off. Peter found a book that might have a cure; I brought it to school to show you! What about the full moon?” 

Stiles felt like screaming at the trees. Of course they’d have to find a cure now, after he’d made that terrible mistake! The timing was perfect as usual! They’d turn Derek back and he would be the old Derek Hale, the one without any hobbies and dreams and aspirations, the one that hadn’t gone to college on a scholarship, the one that had trusted Kate and Jennifer and had been used by them, the one that had lost his family. And considering Stiles’ luck, Derek would remember everything and he would feel betrayed by Stiles and rip his throat out with his teeth. Or even worse, he’d never talk to Stiles again and simply add him to the pile of people who’d used sex as a means to use Derek. Immediately after finishing the thought Stiles felt disgusted by himself. Was that his only concern? That Derek wouldn’t like him anymore? He didn’t deserve Derek liking him in the first place! All of this was so wrong!

“Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t feeling so good. We found Derek’s anchor, no worries”

Lydia texted back a moment later. “At long last! Meeting at my place at 5, don’t be late.”

Stiles glanced at the time and noticed that it was already 12. Had he spent several hours sitting in his jeep in the middle of the forest simply thinking? Awesome. However his dad should be about to start his shift, so it was save to drive home. Especially his boxers felt simply gross. He’d have to wash the jeep as well and remove the tissues. God, why could he never just think? 

Luckily, the sheriff was indeed gone when Stiles arrived, so he took all the time he wanted for a long, thorough shower before starting on the car. He had briefly considered burning his clothes but it seemed to extreme. And what would Derek think? For the next hour, Stiles fought very hard to keep all thoughts of Derek away and concentrated on cleaning the jeep. When he was done it was the cleanest it had been in years and Stiles felt even dirtier than before. He decided to send Scott a text, apologizing to him and fabricating some lie about having worked on finding Derek’s anchor all night. Antagonizing all his friends didn’t seem like a nice idea.   
When he checked his phone there was a text. It wasn’t Scott though, but Malia and Stiles heart skipped a beat. Oh shit. He had forgotten all about Malia. About how he had left her at the dance. About how they were still somehow going out, even though he had told his dad something different. About how he was her anchor, too, and she didn’t know about Derek. And about how she hadn’t been able to sleep next to Stiles lately because Derek and him had locked the window.   
This was quickly becoming the worst day of his life. 

“Where are you? Is everything okay?” 

Only those two questions and Stiles mood dropped even further. Great. Now even Malia was worried about him. And he’d had sex with Derek that morning. 

“Sorry, I’m at home, pretty tired. Found out I’m Derek’s anchor. See you at Lydia’s” 

It was a horrible text message, completely devoid of emotion, but Stiles pressed send. What else was he supposed to do? 

“Dude, sorry about this morning. We worked on finding Derek’s anchor all night, found out that’s it’s me. Pretty stressed about Malia and Derek and that whole anchor-business atm” he then texted Scott. It was as close to the truth as possible and would hopefully be enough. 

Then Stiles went to his room and lay on his bed. He felt miserable and guilty and as if he had betrayed everyone. He could already feel their disappointment. But no tears would come, so he spent more than two hours just staring at the wall. 

His phone chimed at 4:45 and he got up mechanically to drive to Lydia’s. A quick glance in the mirror showed him that he looked dead on his feet but at least his face wasn’t all puffy and swollen from crying.   
Stiles got into the jeep and felt a blush creep up on him. He would never be able to see his beloved car in the same light.   
Just as he parked his car Scott and Kira arrived on Scott’s motorbike. 

“Hey, dude, are you feeling better?” Scott asked after unfastening his helmet and Stiles shrugged half-heartedly. “I’ll be fine. And Derek will be fine, too.”   
“I heard you’re Derek’s anchor? How?” Kira asked, sounded genuinely interested. Stiles had to suppress a sigh. “We’re not really sure. It’s just, he feels really grateful to me for helping him out, and I’ve helped him with his nightmares and I think I’m the first to simply listen to what he has to say. Did you know that he wanted to go to college?” Scott and Kira both shook their heads in surprise and Stiles nodded. “Yeah, neither did I. We did a lot of talking and just…grew kinda close? I dunno how to describe it, but he trusts me and I’ll try my best to keep him save tonight. Is he in there?” He motioned to the house and Scott nodded, so Stiles dropped his voice to a whisper. “I feel bad for lying to him, Scott, we need to tell him! After tonight, we’ve gotta tell Derek the truth!” Scott stared at the ground but nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess we do”   
Feeling rather gloomy, Scott, Kira and Stiles went to Lydia’s front door and rang the doorbell. 

Lydia opened the door and greeted them with a professional smile. “There you are! Good, now we’re complete! Come in and lock the door behind you.”

They did as they were told and Stiles followed Lydia into the living room. Derek and Malia were both sitting there on opposite couches and pointedly ignoring each other. Awesome.   
“Hey guys!” Stiles shouted as happily as he managed and flopped down in the armchair. Scott and Lydia sat down next to Derek and Kira shared a couch with Malia. Both Malia and Derek stared at Stiles as everyone said their hellos. 

“So it seems as if everyone’s found an anchor and there won’t be any bloodshed tonight!” Lydia exclaimed sarcastically and Derek gave her a sheepish grin. “Since we somehow have a bit of a situation, Stiles will simply be using the cellar with Malia and Derek. We’ll be here, but if anything happens Scott can be down there in a second. Objections?” Her tone didn’t leave any room for objections and no one objected. 

Stiles swallowed, composed himself and got up. “Come on then, puppies, let’s have a look at our comfy place for the night!”   
He was followed by Derek and Malia down the stairs, his heart running a mile a minute. The cellar was a plain room with some furniture that Malia had thrashed during the last full moon and an old blanket and some cushions for Stiles to sit on. Some iron chains lay on the floor.   
“Just as cozy as I remember…” Stiles murmured and sat down on the blanket. Malia and Derek sat down next to him framing him from both sides. He felt vaguely claustrophobic. 

“Why are you his anchor?” Malia asked immediately, glaring at Derek. Stiles sighed. Here it came, the inevitable. “You’re my anchor and you were my anchor first!”   
Derek didn’t say anything but just fought to keep the blush from his cheeks. He was failing miserably, but Stiles didn’t comment. Instead he put his hand on Malia’s and looked her into the eye. “I helped you because I wanted to help you, remember? And we got to know each other and you started to trust me and I became your anchor.” He paused and Malia nodded. “Good. It’s just the same for Derek. And I can be both your and Derek’s anchor, because you are both dear friends to me and helping friends is important, I explained that to you.” Both Derek and Malia looked vaguely hurt by the use of the word friend, but neither commented on it. “I want you both to be able to control the shift and I want to make sure that you don’t end up hurt someone by accident because I know that’s the least either of you wants and it’s the least Beacon Hills needs. So let’s just try to be friendly with each other for the next few hours, okay? And for all it’s worth, Malia, I’m sorry for simply leaving you at the dance. Something important came up, but that’s no excuse and I’m sorry.” At that, both Derek and Malia’s eyes lit up and Stiles couldn’t help but feel a little proud of his choice of words. Derek and Malia didn’t look like they were about to kill each other any more and he hadn’t exactly lied. 

The next few hours were pleasantly uneventful, both Malia and Derek shifted a few times, but Stiles managed to calm them down pretty easily each time and when the sun started to rise no one had as much as a scratch on them.   
Stiles ruffled both their hair and hugged them. “I’m really proud of you, you did so well!” Scott, Lydia and Kira joined them, looking a little sleep-deprived but otherwise alright, and congratulated Derek and Malia. More hugs were exchanged and at some point Stiles put his arm around Derek and steered him out the door. “We’re leaving, good night!” he shouted over his shoulder and they stumbled to the jeep. 

Stiles thought of everything but of what had transpired earlier that day and they managed to get home in one piece, tired but happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so. Pretty long chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Stiles can't have nice things. Feedback would be lovely.


	13. We're supposed to take care of each other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for last chapter's positive reviews! I was seriously scared...

The next day Stiles drove to school by himself. Derek had been so exhausted from his first controlled shift and the pull of the full moon that he had decided to stay in bed and catch up on some sleep and Stiles had agreed wholeheartedly. God knew the kid needed to the rest. 

For the first time in what felt like years Stiles actually took part in his classes all the while pushing all thoughts about….that…firmly to the back of his head. The full moon had gone perfectly well after all, there was no use in spoiling his good mood by focusing on…that. Avoidance was the key! 

Stiles, Lydia, Malia, Scott and Kira sat at their usual table during lunch, for once able to speak freely about the whole Derek situation. 

“So. Peter agreed that we should take Derek to Deaton, even if he might recognize him, because seriously, we haven’t been able to come up with any way to turn him back. It’s infuriating, I’ve spent all those hours working with that creep for nothing!” Lydia said with a note of disdain. 

“Deaton probably doesn’t look much older anyway, right? I mean, at some point people just stop aging for a while, don’t they?” Scott offered hopefully earning a sigh from Lydia. 

Stiles cleared his throat and every head turned. “Guys, um, listen, I had a thought…” he started, scratching the back of his head, “This, all this, what we’re doing, it’s really not cool, not fair to Derek. We’ve been lying to him for weeks now and it’s gonna be bad when he remembers, provided that he remembers at all, but what I’m trying to say is that Derek, the way he’s now, is kinda happy, right? Like, he’s got friends and he goes to school and he wants to go to college and he’s got a hobby, so he’s happy and his life is good. But once he turns back and remembers everything, what will he have? His family’s dead, his house was burned down, his uncle is a psychopath, he doesn’t have any hobbies and he certainly doesn’t have any friends and for all we know he never even finished high school! I mean, his life sucks, basically, doesn’t it? And just…we should tell him, everything, about his family and Kate and all that instead of lying again so that he’s got a choice. He should be the one to decide if he even wants to remember and be turned back, don’t you think? Because let’s be honest, if we were him, would we want to go back to that life? I for one would at least like to be asked. It’s not like he’s a little kid after all. I mean, yeah, he is, but not really, y’know?” 

He could feel his friends staring at him and wondered if he had said too much. But then Kira sighed softly and Scott drew his eyebrows together. Even Lydia looked somewhat sad. Only Malia resumed eating, apparently after deciding that her opinion was not necessary. Or maybe she just didn’t care. 

Stiles’ eyes darted between them and he raised his eyebrows. “So? What d’you think?“ he asked anxiously. He truly believed that Derek should use his horribly bad luck for once and take this for what it was – a second chance at a good life. Well, not good per se, his family was still dead except for Peter, but he was the one relative Derek could really do without, and his house wasn’t so much a house as just a charred ruin, but everything considered it was still better than the life he used to lead. At least it was in Stiles’ opinion. 

“It’s…dude, you’ve really thought about that a lot, huh? Wow…I mean, I knew you cared for Derek, but…” 

“What? Scott, it’s not that! I mean, his life is shit and we’ve been shitty friends! And of course I care about him, but so do you, I care about him just as much as the next person, there’s nothing strange about that! We’re friends, so I wanna help him, cause that’s what friends do, help each other, as friends!” Stiles exclaimed in a rush and Lydia snickered. 

“You’re right though, Stiles” she said thoughtfully. “It’s no fun being in the dark like that, especially when you know you’re being lied to. I didn’t like it when you did it to me, I knew you were keeping things from me and Derek’s no idiot, he must have figured out that something’s definitely wrong. But…” She trailed off and twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “If he for whatever reason didn’t hate us after we told him the truth, where would he live? He doesn’t have a valid ID, no credit card, no insurance, nothing. And who’d be his guardian, Peter?” She sneered. “Derek doesn’t have a high school transcript. He wears your clothes, for God’s sake! I don’t wanna spoil it for you, Stiles, but won’t telling him and leaving him a choice be ultimately more trouble than it’s worth? How do you expect to solve all those problems if he really decides to stay like this?”   
She was right of course and Stiles felt like screaming. It wasn’t fair, none of this, and once again he’d allowed for a situation to go completely out of control. 

“Wouldn’t leaving Derek like this also ultimately kill the Derek we know?” Kira asked, quietly and Stiles felt even worse. She looked at him, all sad eyes and something akin to pity on her face. “Because he would probably never become like he is now. Is that really something we can decide? Or something he can choose for himself? Should he be able to choose?” 

Stiles groaned and ran a hand over his face in exasperation. “This is so much more complicated than I thought!” Talking about the issue hadn’t helped at all, if anything there were more problems now than before. And Stiles had still no idea how to approach Derek. 

“Guys, what’s Peter doing here?” Malia suddenly asked, causing everyone to stop and stare out the window where she was pointing. Peter Hale was standing just outside the cafeteria, looking seriously pissed and was glaring at them.   
Stiles pushed his chair back, but Scott was faster and dashed outside. The rest followed, anxiously. Peter Hale at school was definitely not a good sign, ever. 

“What are you doing here? This is a high school, in case you haven’t noticed, and not to be rude, but it’s a little late to be catching up on your primary education, don’t you think? And if anyone sees you here they might file a restraining order against you, just in case, and you don’t want-“

“Yes, thank you, Stiles.” Peter brushed him aside without so much as looking at him. “Moving on. Kate is in Beacon Hills. We need to- hold on! Where is Derek? I can’t smell him!” His face transformed from mild annoyance to shock to anger in a split second. “What are you imbeciles thinking, leaving him all by himself when he’s vulnerable like this with Kate still running around? Lydia, I thought at least you had some sort of common sense!” He shouted the last words and his eyes flickered blue. 

Stiles forced himself not to be intimidated and grabbed Peter’s sleeve. “C’mon guys, let’s go somewhere else, I wasn’t kidding about that restraining order.”   
They hurried across the schoolyard to a tree that shielded them from prying eyes from the cafeteria. Stiles let go of Peter’s sleeve as if he had been burned. “Derek’s at my place, sleeping. He was pretty out of it cause of the full moon.”

Peter glared at Stiles. “Oh really, well in that case I guess you were just being considerate, huh? Completely stupid, but with good intentions?” The nasty glance he shot at Stiles made his skin crawl and the hairs on his back stand up. He tried to keep his breathing and heartbeat even, though, anything but admit that he was vaguely scared of Peter. 

“Calm down, Peter, and tell us about Kate. How do you know she’s in Beacon Hills?” Lydia asked. She had her hands at her hips and her perfect brows drawn together in a scowl. Stiles felt a sudden burst of affection for her. Even though she had the most reason not to trust Peter and feel uncomfortable around him, she had worked with him, afternoon after afternoon, all to help Derek, without complaining even once. And now she was speaking up the way only Lydia could. 

Peter rolled his eyes and raised his eyebrows in disdain. “Because I know her smell, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it. We have a bit of a history, you might remember…?” He trailed a finger along the right side of his face where the burn used to be. “So! Kate’s here and Derek’s all alone! This is looking like quite the predicament…how about you run home, Stiles, and look if Derek dear is all right? I’m assuming you still haven’t told him anything, so I can’t go see him myself?” he drawled, addressing only Stiles who shook his head without meeting Peter’s eye. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Peter shouted and Stiles winced. He was right, of course. Derek was in imminent danger. He immediately sprinted towards the parking lot and heard Scott calling “Wait, I’m coming with you!” Scott reached the jeep sooner than him and they both got in. So much for a normal school day. 

“Call his phone!” Stiles commanded, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Scott looked confused for a moment and Stiles added “Your old number! You gave him your phone!” Scott tried the number, but no one answered. “Shit!” Stiles cursed softly while breaking all the speed limits and hoping his dad was doing deskwork that day. “It’s always Derek!” he exclaimed, “First Kate, then Jennifer and now Kate again! Dude just can’t catch a break!”   
The look Scott gave him in return was a strange one he couldn’t really place. “You really care about him, huh? That’s cool, dude, really, don’t get me wrong, Derek deserves someone nice to care about him and you’re the best friend anyone could wish for. He’ll be okay, don’t worry, he’s survived Kate before and he’s got us now!” 

Stiles made a noncommittal noise, parked the jeep and jumped out. He raced to the door, arms flailing, and nearly dropped his keys. He cursed loudly and opened the door. Scott and him ran up the stairs, but even before they entered Stiles’ bedroom Scott shook his head and murmured “He’s gone. Kate was here, I can smell her, Peter was telling the truth.” 

Stiles pushed the door to his room, but it was empty just like Scott had said. Everything looked the same as in the morning, the bed sheets were still tangled and on the night stand was Derek’s cell phone, utterly useless and indicating several missed calls by the rest of the group. 

Kate had been in Stiles’ house and now Derek was gone without a trace. Stiles sank down on his bed slowly and bit down on his lip, hard. He felt kind of numb. This was not the fallout he had imagined. He had expected some fighting at the very least, not a simple disappearance. Any second now Lydia would call and tell him the location of Derek’s mangled corpse and he would call his dad to scrape remnants of Derek Hale’s intestines off some fence. Stiles realized he wasn’t breathing. So did Scott, apparently, judging by the way he was gripping Stiles’ shoulders and shaking him roughly. Why wasn’t Stiles able to hear anything? He gripped Scott’s shirt.

“Stiles! Breath!” Scott suddenly yelled at him and Stiles snapped out of it, gulping in deep breaths of air. He leaned his head against Scott’s stomach still breathing heavily and Scott rubbed his back soothingly. “We’re gonna find him, Peter, Malia and I know his scent and Lydia, Kira and you can drive around town. Okay?”   
Stiles nodded and straightened up. “Okay. Yes, okay, it’s gonna be okay, it’s Derek, Derek always pulls through, yeah, no problem. Good.” He looked around the room and startled. He had been wrong before, his room wasn’t completely like he’d left it. His MacBook was opened. He always closed it after using it.

Stiles jumped up and rushed to his desk. He touched the track pad and the computer came to life.  
“Oh God…” Stiles murmured as he saw the opened page. It was a newspaper article with the headline “Family killed in tragic fire!” and a picture of the Hale house burning. “Shit!”

“What is it?” Scott asked and came up behind Stiles. He saw the article and gasped.

“This is bad. This is even worse than bad. This is the ultimate worst thing that could have happened. Fuck! Do your werewolf thing, Scott, I’m calling Lydia. Leave your phone on and call as soon as you notice anything. Anything at all! Shit!” Then he got up and grabbed the baseball bat on his way downstairs.   
This one was completely on him. He hadn’t thought about using a password since he was the only one using his MacBook, his dad had no idea how to operate it. But Derek apparently did. Desperation could drive a person to do amazing things. And now he knew the truth and Kate had chosen that exact moment to appear! Perfect! This was gonna end bad, Allison bad. They were well past the days when their actions didn’t have any consequences. 

“Lydia, hi, it’s me. Nope, he’s gone, Kate was in my house. He knows about the fire! Scott is gonna get Malia and Peter, they’re gonna try to sniff them out. Are Kira and you at school? Okay, yeah, meet me at the pool, we’ll just drive around a bit.”

Three hours later neither of them had found a single trace of Derek and Kate. They had definitely been around town, both of them together, but either they had spent the day madly running around Beacon Hills or Kate had the best sound- and smell-proof hideout they had ever encountered. Stiles and the pack had nothing. 

“At least he’s not dead” Malia offered with a shrug and was met with five glares to which she murmured “What? It’s something!” 

Stiles sighed and checked his phone. There were no new messages but a missed call; the sheriff had called a couple minutes ago. “Guys, I’m gonna head home and fill my dad in. He might be able to help, being the sheriff and everything…” He felt defeated and sad and tired and parents were supposed to help you in situations like that or so Stiles had heard and maybe his dad would have the solution being the sheriff and everything. He seriously doubted it. 

When he came home, the house was dark. His phone beeped and showed a text from the sheriff saying “I’m working the nightshift, drug business in the woods, don’t worry. Love you”   
Stiles laughed a hollow laugh. So much for his dad helping him.   
He walked up to his room not bothering to turn on any lights. There was no way he’d be getting any sleep that night. Stiles’ fingers found the light switch with ease. Then he raised his head and let out a shriek.   
Derek was sitting at his desk, an impassive expression on his face. Stiles felt all his color draining away and stared. 

Then Derek got up. His voice was quiet and toneless.  
“Kate told me the everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! How screwed is Stiles?


	14. Your plans suck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! There it is! The pre-finale chapter! ;)   
> Thank you so much for all your nice comments and kudos, they make me very happy :) 
> 
> Enjoy!

Stiles stood stock-still in the doorframe, shell-shocked. He stared at Derek, unblinking, trying to make sense of what he had said.   
And then, because he was Stiles Stilinski, he started talking, saying the first best thing that came to mind, gesticulating wildly to emphasize his point.   
“I’m so sorry, Derek! I wanted to tell, you, really, but the full moon was approaching and the others agreed that we should wait till after that and I was against lying to you from the start, I hate lying, and it never turns out well, but when does shit ever, anyway, we thought it would stress you out too much, but this afternoon I wanted to spill everything, honest, just, I was still debating on how to-“

“Save it, Stiles!” Derek cut him off, voice dangerously quiet and Stiles winced and slowly dropped his arms. Derek hadn’t shifted, but everything about his posture had changed completely, causing the hairs on Stiles’ arms to stand up. Everything about Derek’s stance screamed ‘predator’ and Stiles was easy prey.   
Derek got up and took three long strides over to Stiles.   
“I don’t need to hear any more lies! To think that you’re all in this – even the sheriff! Just how big is your pack, really?”

Stiles looked at Derek, dumbfounded. “What?” he croaked out, not able to make sense of Derek’s words. In on what, really? And since when had his dad been considered pack? What?

“Don’t play dumb now! You had me fooled really well, congratulations, and you’re fooling people at school, but that’s not how you really are at all, right? The talking and the hyperactivity and sucking at lacrosse, it’s all a fucking act isn’t it? And I fell for it! You must feel so great! You even got me to, God, you got me sleep in your bed and kiss you and…” He threw Stiles a seriously disgusted look and Stiles felt his mouth slowly opening.   
“And for what? Did you really think I’d want to be part of your pack? Did you really think I wouldn’t find out? That you would go so far as to erase my memories and make me a teenager! Just who is your druid? Who does shit like that? All to what, make me easier to manipulate?! You even made me change my name!”

Stiles raised a hand at that. He had a horrible feeling about this. “Wait, wait, wait! What the fuck are you talking about, Derek? Stealing your memories, manipulating you? What the fuck, man?” 

At that Derek’s eyes turned blue and his teeth transformed into fangs. He raised a clawed hand and grabbed Stiles shoulder and shook him violently.   
“You killed my family! You burned my house down! You even drove the Argents from here, all to strengthen your influence and widen your territory! I know everything, Stiles! Kate told me! She’s scared out of her mind! And she’s all alone, just like me! She promised to help me and I will! And we’ll come back, with hunters, and I’ll get my revenge! You’ll wish you’d never, you’d never…” He started sobbing violently and pushed Stiles against the door. “How could you?” he yelled, “Why my family? I hate you! I hate you! Don’t come looking for me, don’t follow me, I don’t want to see you ever again, Stiles!” He pushed Stiles again and disappeared out of the window. 

Stiles didn’t do anything for a few moments. His mind was blank. Finally he slid down the door and leaned his head against it. Then he took deep breaths, trying to compose himself. 

Holy fuck. 

This had turned out so wrong. It was even worse than he had feared.   
Derek was in the clutches of the evil bitch and she had been so clever. And it all fit together. Fuck. 

With trembling hands, Stiles reached for his phone. 

“Lydia? Yeah, hi. No, I’m…it’s all fucked. I found Derek. Or rather, he found me. We’re screwed. I dunno what to do. Yeah, yeah okay.” 

Lydia had told him to stay put and wait for her. Stiles did just that, his thoughts going in circles, a mile at a minute. Derek had said he hated him. Derek thought it had been them who’d killed the Hales and caused the Hale fire. Derek hated him. Derek thought Stiles had been nice to him in order to manipulate him. And now Derek hated him. Derek didn’t want to see Stiles again. Because he hated him.   
Somehow this was the only thing Stiles could think about. 

When Lydia arrived at the house, he greeted her with a numb “Derek said he hates me”. He was pulled into a hug by Lydia and drew a shuddering breath. 

“Why don’t you tell me what happened? Where’s Derek?” she asked after a moment and steered Stiles to his couch.   
He grimaced and Lydia took his hands and started drawing circles on it. 

“Kate happened. I come into my room and Derek’s there, sitting at my desk in a pitch-black room, as if that’s not psycho as fuck! I mean, I know he’s a gloomy one, but that’s too emo even for Derek! And then he says Kate told him everything, and I’m like trying to explain to him why we lied, when he just flips on me!” Stiles gestured wildly, not letting go of Lydia’s hand. “Said we killed his family and burned his house down and made the Argents leave town - I guess the last one’s not too far from the truth – and that we turned him into a teenager and quote ‘stole his memories’ unquote to make him part of the pack! Cause apparently Kate told him Scott’s on some kinda Deucalion-like mission to build the ultimate pack or something! I mean, Scott! Imagine that!” He sighed loudly, his face turning into a sneer. “Apparently the whole town is in on it, even my dad. That’s an even freakier conspiracy theory than the ones from Coach!” A humorless chuckle. Then Stiles sobered up. “And then he said he hates me and that he’s going with Kate and that they’ll return with hunters and get revenge…”

He could have imagined it, but it felt as if Lydia’s pressure on his hand intensified.   
“We’ll find him and Kate and stop her before she can hurt him. I don’t like it, but we need Peter now. He knows more about Kate and her possible motives. And maybe he can get that cure from the book to work. And even if he can’t, he might be able to convince Derek that Scott didn’t murder his family. He is Derek’s uncle after all and he’s the one who turned Scott, that should count for something.” She looked determined and promptly called first Scott and then Peter and ordered them to Stiles’ house. The thought of Peter in his home wasn’t too thrilling, but Stiles told himself that it was necessary, it was for a good cause. 

Lydia ended the last call and looked Stiles over. Her eyes narrowed and she furrowed her brows. Stiles felt himself fidget. Being the victim of Lydia’s scrutiny was never pleasant but right now it drove him nuts.   
“What happened between you and Derek? Was it something at the dance? He suddenly proclaimed you as his anchor and he was practically glowing with happiness.” She tilted her head and squinted again. “You on the other hand…” 

Beautiful. Stiles fought hard to keep a blush from spreading over his face but judging by Lydia’s amused expression he was failing rather spectacularly. 

“So something did happen!” she exclaimed and the normality of the situation felt almost absurd to Stiles. Derek was on the run with Kate, they wanted to get their revenge on Scott and the rest of them, and at the same time Lydia and him were sitting in his living room discussing his seriously messed-up love life.   
Stiles’ gaze flickered to his jeep and he blushed a darker shade. There had been enough to worry about even without Kate. He nodded hesitantly and prayed for Scott and the rest to arrive soon. Were his life a book or a movie, this would be the moment they’d be conveniently interrupted. But it wasn’t, so Stiles found himself grudgingly retelling the events of the decade dance while absently pulling the stuffing out of a pillow. 

“So you kissed him? Or did he kiss you?” 

Stiles sat cross-legged on the couch, surrounded by little cotton-balls and shrugged. “I seriously don’t know, Lydia! Bottom line, we kissed and neither of us stopped and day of the full moon, Derek pretty much tells me he wants to go out with me! Derek Hale, go out with me! But like, not Derek Derek, because he would never, but baby Derek and I kinda panicked, hard to imagine, I know, but I didn’t know what to say, so I said we could go to the movies or something and the kid was just so fucking happy!” This was all Lydia needed to know, strictly speaking it was already way too much, but there was really no need for her to know about the jeep situation, so Stiles did something very Stiles-untypical and closed his mouth, determined to stay quiet. 

Even though, Lydia seemed to have a grasp on the situation. “So Derek happened to fall in love with you -oh, don’t cringe, Stiles, it’s kinda cute- and then Kate paid him a nice visit, filled his empty little head with lies and now he feels betrayed by you and you feel responsible?” 

Stiles used a little more force than necessary and ripped a hole into the pillow. “Basically, yeah…” he murmured. 

“Kate’s clever and no offense, but Derek isn’t. And he knows Kate and trusts her. There was nothing you could do, you know that, right Stiles?” 

Those words reminded Stiles a little too closely of an incident not too long ago and he closed his eyes, releasing his hold on the pillow. “There never is, huh?” he asked in a bitter voice.   
Before Lydia could reply, they heard the sound of Scott’s motorbike and Stiles used the distraction to jump up and open the door. Kira, Scott, Malia and Peter were finally there. They could concentrate on coming up with a plan now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so. Next chapter, there'll be a plan and a confrontation.   
>  You won't have to wait long, I'll be spending a lot of time in trains the next days...


	15. You know what happens when you only hear one side of the story? You only heard one side of the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is done!   
> I still can't quite believe it myself, it's the longest fan fiction I've ever written and I've actually finished it! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your support so far, thanks for reading, thanks for leaving kudos and thanks for commenting, you guys make me so happy! :)

After everyone had settled on the couch Lydia filled them in before Stiles had the chance to open his mouth. He was honestly quite glad about it, knowing his habit of saying way too much at the wrong time. Luckily Lydia left the bit about the kiss out of her story, Stiles didn’t know if he’d been able to. 

“So it looks like we need your help, Peter” he said grudgingly when Lydia was done. Having Peter in his house was one thing, asking him for help was on a whole new level. It was nearly enough to cause him physical pain, certainly enough to make him clench and un-clench his fist in an attempt to stay calm. “Kate obviously needs something from Derek or she wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble. Is there something you can think of that only Derek could do for her?” Because that was what it all came to, wasn’t it? Kate had some sort of use for Derek and as soon as he’d helped her out with whatever she needed, she would dispose of him. They had to find both of them before that to make sure Derek was safe, even if he mistrusted them now. 

Peter raised his eyebrows and sneered at Stiles. His voice was scornful when he replied, “Allowing me to interact with my nephew now, are you? Am I supposed to be grateful?” 

“Peter!” Scott snapped at him, his eyes glowing red, “We don’t have time for this! You wanna help Derek and you wanna get your revenge on Kate, don’t you? Then tell us what you know!” 

Stiles had to hand it to him, Scott’s alpha act was quite impressive. It got Peter to actually shut up which was about as easy as getting Stiles himself to shut up. Unfortunately for his friends, the alpha eyes didn’t work on him, though. 

“All right, all right. No need to get all testy. We’re all playing for the same team here!” Peter said rising his hands in a gesture of innocence. Stiles briefly wondered who the act was supposed to fool, even Malia knew better than to trust Peter with anything.   
“I could only think of one thing she’d…oh, but Derek wouldn’t, surely not, surely even a 16-year-old Derek would have more sense than that…” he trailed off, a note of panic in his voice that told Stiles Peter knew exactly what Kate was planning. 

“What? What is it? Where are they?” he asked immediately and jumped up. If only he got a chance to explain everything to Derek!   
Peter sighed and looked quite miserable all of a sudden. “I’ve got a good idea what Kate might want Derek for. She’s a werejaguar now, she’s being hunted and she can’t turn to any of her old contacts…” 

“She needs money!” Lydia exclaimed and Peter nodded, his expression one of disgust. “There’s a vault, has been in the possession of the Hale family for generations.”

“And you keep money there?” Stiles interjected and Peter shot him a venomous look.   
“No, we keep candy there! What do you think, Stiles?”   
Stiles rolled his eyes at Peter. “So, I take it Derek knows about the vault and has the key or something? Where is it?” 

The rest of the pack had gotten up as well, ready to go to the mysterious vault as fast as possible. It had to be in some secluded location like deep in the forest where only a werewolf could find it. Stiles hoped his jeep would be able to make it there. 

Peter sighed and his expression turned sour. Stiles had never seen the man go through so many facial expressions before. “Don’t laugh. The vault is underneath your high school.” 

Stiles eyes went wide at that and he stared at Scott, who simply shrugged. “Well, at least that explains why him and Derek were always hanging around our school” he offered and Stiles laughed nervously. “Yeah, it’s definitely more legal than the explanations I’ve come up with. Anyway, what are we waiting for? Time to go to school, guys!”   
Then he raced upstairs and grabbed the bat he had stored behind the door. Probably wouldn’t do too much good against Kate, but it couldn’t hurt to be armed. 

Scott, Kira, Malia and Peter had already left and Lydia had the keys to his jeep in her hands when he came back downstairs. She gave Stiles and the bat an approving nod and tossed him the keys.   
Of course it was dark outside by the time they arrived at the school and Stiles cursed loudly.   
“I swear, I can’t wait for graduation! I’ve really seen enough of this school to last a fucking lifetime, especially at night, and there’s been way too many kinds of potentially lethal creatures here! Really, how is this school even still open? And why the fuck would you put your vault underneath a high school? Is that the most inconspicuous place they could come up with? Or are werewolf inexplicably drawn to high schools? Maybe it’s just the Hales…” 

“I wonder how much money there is in that vault.” Lydia mused. “Must be a lot. Kate needs a completely new identity to start fresh somewhere far from here. That’s got to cost quite a sum…” 

Stiles parked the jeep and shook his head. “So the Camaro wasn’t just showing off, I guess. I always thought Derek was trying to compensate his lack of…well, life, with that car. And now I learn the guy’s rich! Once he’s turned back he’s so treating us to dinner!” 

Bat in hand Stiles walked to the main entrance, Lydia at his side. Scott and Kira had just parked the bike and Malia and Peter were already there, standing at what appeared to be a set of stairs leading into the ground. Right in front of the fucking main entrance! Best place for a secret vault ever, Stiles thought to himself. And promptly said it out loud. 

Peter’s head whipped around and he narrowed his eyes at him. “Well, it’s not like you ever realized it was here, did you?” Then he descended into the vault. Before any of the others could follow, there was an enraged scream and the sound of something fragile breaking into several pieces. 

Kira cleared her throat uneasily and Stiles murmured, “So I take it Derek and Kate have already been here, huh?” 

They were all silent for a moment until Peter emerged again, seething. “That bitch! I’m gonna kill her and this time I’m gonna make sure she stays dead! She robbed me! First she kills my family and burns down the house, then she transforms my nephew into a lovesick teenager and now she fucking robs me! I am going to tear her to pieces!” 

For once no one could muster up the nerves to object. It was quite possibly the angriest they had ever seen Peter. 

Suddenly Malia spoke up. “I think I’ve got Derek’s scent. They’re not far from here, heading out of town it seems, but they’re on foot.” 

“Awesome! Lead the way, we’re following!” Stiles shouted, already halfway to his jeep. Lydia hurried after him, rather slow in her high heels, and so did Kira. Malia, Scott and Peter had apparently all caught the scent and ran. 

The only way out of town from where they currently were that didn’t include going through the whole city led through the industrial area. Kate had followed Scott there, when she had first come to town after he had gotten the bite. It seemed like a lifetime away. It also felt ironic chasing her through the same area. Stiles appreciated the irony. He also appreciated the remote location. Like this, if it were to come to a werewolf-showdown, at least there wouldn’t be any civilians involved. It also didn’t hurt that cops tended not to frequent that part of Beacon Hills. The less his dad knew about this, the better. 

Stiles drove about as carefully as he had when his dad had been trapped by the Darach, wasting no thought on all the traffic laws he was breaking, and stopped as soon as he saw Scott and the rest on a parking lot left to them. The jeep skidded to a halt and Stiles jumped out, bat held tightly in his hand. He was followed by Kira who was clutching her katana and Lydia who was walking somewhat shakily. Stiles made a mental note to apologize for his driving later. 

Scott and Malia were facing Kate and Derek while Peter was loitering in the background as per usual, doing everything but convincing Derek that Kate was lying to him. Awesome. 

All heads whipped around at the sound of Stiles and the girls approaching.   
Was their plan really relying on Hale family-bonds to convince Derek that it was Kate playing him and not them? Could Peter pull it off? Did Derek have any reason to believe a single word Peter said? Stiles knew he would rather believe Allison’s crazy aunt than Derek’s crazy uncle, although it was a close call. They were both bat-shit insane, homicidal maniacs who had killed members of Derek’s family. 

“Derek! Listen to us!” Scott yelled, trying to get Derek’s attention, his eyes flashing red. “She’s lying to you, just hear Peter out, he can explain! It’s okay that you won’t believe us, but he’s your uncle! He’s family!”

Derek stood a few steps behind Kate, an expression of insecurity on his face. He looked overwhelmed and frightened and so horribly young that Stiles wanted to hug him and take him home and feed him chocolate and tell him everything would be fine.   
Their eyes met, but when Stiles tried a smile, Derek’s expression changed to revulsion and Stiles felt his smile falter. Right. It wasn’t gonna be that easy. 

“He’s lying to you, Derek.” Kate said calmly. She hadn’t shifted and seemed completely at ease. The suitcase undoubtedly stuffed with money probably had something to do with that. “Your uncle conspired with Scott McCall to kill your sister and alpha, Laura. He was promised a spot as Scott’s second-in-command and became the one who did the dirty work for him.” 

Oh, the bitch was clever. It wasn’t technically a lie, seeing as Peter had indeed killed Laura. 

“Kate, please.” He still said, voice smooth as honey, “Stop twisting the facts like that. It was you who seduced young Derek and made him trust you so that you could burn down our house and murder our families. I was in a coma for years-“

“Hah! Do you hear that!” Kate cut him off, flashing a big, toothy grin that made her look even more like the deranged maniac she was. “I told you they’d use the lie about me seducing you, didn’t I? They have no shame, after what they did to you…” 

“Stiles”, Derek whispered and Kate turned towards Derek. “What was that?” 

“It was Stiles!” he said, putting an emphasis on the name. “He’s the one who seduced me!” 

Stiles felt all eyes turn to him immediately and couldn’t help the blush that was spreading over his face. He nearly dropped the bat when he started flailing his arms wildly. “Dude! What? I didn’t, I-I never, I wouldn’t seduce you, dude! What! Why would Scott even want me to do that, it doesn’t make sense, Scott likes girls, he’s with Kira, who’s a girl and you and me, we’re both not and I’ve really never seduced anyone, ask Malia, I’m horrible at stuff like that, Derek, what are you saying?” 

“To manipulate me, of course!” Derek immediately shouted. “To make me trust you, so that I’d agree to becoming part of your pack!”

Stiles shook his head rapidly, not really trusting his hearing. Was this real? Was Derek Hale seriously insinuating that Stiles had seduced him? How? 

“Dude, you seduced Derek? What?” Scott asked dumbly, looking mildly surprised. 

“I’ve got no idea what he’s talking about, Scotty! I haven’t! Look at me, I’d have noticed!” 

There was a low growl from Derek. “Don’t play dumb now! It was inside your jeep and you were there!”

Stiles wanted the ground to swallow him whole. This was supposed to be a fight to the death, not an exercise in humiliating him. If he survived this, he’d have some seriously uncomfortable explaining to do. To think that Derek thought of that jeep incident of Stiles seducing him…

“And I even said I wanted to be with you! I’m so glad Kate arrived to tell me what’s really going on here, I trusted you! All of you!” 

Derek’s eyes shone with unshed tears and Kate placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s gonna be fine, we’ve got enough money to find a cure for you now and you never have to see this pack again if that’s what you want.”

“Derek, think for a second!” Lydia screeched and Derek actually winced. “Don’t you think her timing’s a bit too convenient, arriving when you’ve gotten to know and trust us? And didn’t she promise you revenge before? Do you know what she needs the money for? She can’t turn to any of her hunter friends, do you know why? Do you know what she is?” The last sentence ended in a high-pitched half-scream. 

It didn’t seem to have any effect on Derek, though. “What? I know she’s a werejaguar, she told me as soon as she was sure I wouldn’t come running back to you. She also told me that it was uncle Peter who turned her, accidentally, when he had wanted to kill her. And now she can’t go back to her family. We’re the same. And that’s why I’m going with her.” He was perfectly calm as he said it and Stiles was convinced that he believed every word. The idiot. 

Kate smiled sweetly at Derek and picked up the suitcase. “Finished your goodbyes? Ready to leave?”   
He nodded at the same time as Peter hissed, “You’re not going anywhere, Kate! You’re a dirty, whoring, murdering thief!” And then he jumped. 

Suddenly there was movement everywhere and Stiles only just managed to push Lydia out of reach before she got hurt. 

Scott and Peter were advancing on Kate while Malia attacked Derek. Only Kate and Scott had shifted, but all their eyes were glowing and they used their claws. Kate’s body turned a dark blue-grey and she snarled at Scott before turning and jumping at Kira, going for her throat. Scott intervened at the last second, pushing Kate away and shouting “You okay?” to Kira, who nodded and went into her fighting stance. Scott’s push hadn’t hurt Kate and she approached again, striking Scott and Kira again and again with her claws. It was a flurry of movement too fast for Stiles’ eyes to follow, but she seemed to be dealing blows. Scott was covered in superficial cuts that healed immediately and Kira was unharmed but sweating and breathing heavily. 

Not far from them Derek was fighting Malia. They were pretty much evened out as they exchanged blows. Then Malia managed to strike Derek’s cheek and he stumbled backwards. Malia was on him in an instant and lifted his upper body up enough to slam his head into the concrete repeatedly. “You idiot!”, she shouted and slammed Derek’s head down “After everything Stiles has done for you!” Another slam. “He obviously really likes you!” Slam. “And that’s how you repay him?” She stopped hurting Derek but didn’t let go of his shirt.   
Stiles was watching the exchange and saw Derek’s eyes turn to their normal color and his claws transforming back into normal fingers. That was…unexpected.   
Malia helping Derek up a moment later was even more unexpected. Stiles carefully and quietly sneaked closer towards them, just in case the newfound armistice didn’t work out.

“Derek! What are you doing?” Kate roared, dodging Peter, Kira and Scott at the same time. “This is not the time to get sentimental, help me!” 

But Derek hesitated and Stiles realized that he was contemplating their statements and comparing them to Kate’s. Hopefully he’d realize that Kate’s words and her actions didn’t add up.   
“Are you really sure that it was all their fault?” he asked quietly, a pleading look on his face. 

“Of course I am, sweetie! They are the enemy, they killed both our families!” She backed away from Kira, Scott and Peter slowly. Her expression was rather urgent. It seemed she had realized she was physically inferior and fighting a losing battle. 

“That’s not true!” Lydia suddenly interjected from behind Stiles. She looked furious. If she were a werewolf, Stiles was sure she would have shifted by now. “Victoria Argent committed suicide, Gerard Argent is still alive somewhere for all we know, Chris is living in France and Allison was killed by a nogitsune! We didn’t cause any of that! And you burned down the Hale house, you vile creature! With the intent to kill every last Hale!” 

There was a flash and a hiss and a blur and Lydia was pushed to the side by Peter to evade fully shifted Kate, who let out a growl. She whipped her head around and narrowed her eyes at Derek. Her voice was no longer sweet when she yelled “Come on now, we have to get going! What are you waiting for?”

Derek looked her in the eyes for a long moment. His whole form radiated utter bewilderment and he was clearly overwhelmed by the situation. 

“Derek!” Kate shouted again, a not of impatience creeping into her voice. 

Suddenly Derek’s form seemed to crumble, he stumbled a step backwards and lost all of the rigid posture. He shook his head rapidly and broke the eye contact with Kate. 

“Ah, so that’s how it is? Fine! If that’s how you want it to be!” Her eyes gleamed. “I’ve still got the money!”   
Then she darted forwards, claws extended and aiming for Derek’s throat. Stiles could see the scene play out in slow motion in front of him, like seeing a little boy tripping over a stone while holding ice cream in his hand. It was a catastrophe slowly unfolding right in front of his very eyes and he knew exactly where it was going. And then Stiles felt his body move as if on its own accord and managed thinking “Fucking stupid idea!” before he jumped in front of a werewolf who was about to get severely slaughtered by a werejaguar. Then the claws pierced his flesh and he heard the horrible crunching sound of the bones in his shoulder and upper arm splintering and he didn’t think very much anymore.   
He dully noticed the pack rushing towards him. When had he fallen to the ground? And how much more blood could he loose before things got ugly? His shirt felt sticky already and the smell of copper was overwhelming. Stiles’ brain seemed oddly foggy. Then he heard a growl, low and dangerous and so very familiar and Stiles saw Derek, grown-up Derek Hale in all his bearded glory, rush past him and charge at Kate and he was furious, God, Stiles had never seen him that furious and when had he changed back and why was everything going all fuzzy and dark around him and “Dad’s gonna be furious” was his last coherent thought before Stiles blacked out. 

 

When Stiles opened his eyes, he was greeted by the white plainness of a hospital room and the steady drip of an IV. He blinked a few times in order to get his brain to wake up, but there seemed to be a fog in there. Whatever. It was warm and comfy and he didn’t even mind the underlying smell of disinfectant. He looked around lazily, not really sure what he was looking for, when the door opened rather abruptly. Stiles blinked again. 

“You’re awake! I heard the change in your heartbeat, so I thought I’d just…um…how are you feeling?” 

“Dude.” Stiles said and paused. Then he tried again, after some more blinking and staring. “You’re you. I mean, you’re Derek Hale.” 

“I usually am, have been for a while now.” Derek answered with a smirk. 

Stiles stared dumbly at Derek. “Yeah. Yeah but, you’re you. Not a teenager any more. But yourself. Wow…” 

And Derek, the real, 25-year-old Derek, smiled at Stiles, a real honest smile, and walked over to him. 

Stiles returned the smile. Suddenly his expression got thoughtful, questioning. “Am I high?” he inquired and Derek couldn’t stifle a short, loud laugh. Still grinning he answered, “Yes, you are. Your arm is broken and there’s been some damage to your shoulder blade. We’re gonna talk about this, once you’re not drugged anymore. Jumping in front of a werewolf as if you’ve got a death wish…” He looked seriously concerned at that, so Stiles made and effort to take Derek’s hand into his unharmed one it give it a reassuring squeeze.   
He still wore the same smile as before when he murmured, “Welcome home, Derek”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...so, what do you think? Did you like the final chapter? Did you enjoy Works in Progress? 
> 
> I'm gonna start the sequel soon, featuring Derek, who's back to normal again, but unfortunately completely broke, and Stiles, who's great at helping people, but won't let anyone help him.   
> It's gonna be online soon and I'd be the happiest person in the world if you all continued reading it :) 
> 
> Until then, thank you so much, and tell me how you liked the ending!


End file.
